When the anti-gun New York Times acknowledges that a restrictive new gun law proposed by President Barack Obama — like the one signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo Tuesday — probably could not have prevented December’s Sandy Hook school shooting, it is clear there is a problem with the gun prohibition agenda.
The Times admitted that, according to FBI data, rifles like the one used by Adam Lanza to murder 26 people in Newtown are used in a small fraction of homicides. That did not stop Cuomo from inking gun ban legislation in Albany, nor will it stop Obama from pushing for a national ban on so-called “assault weapons.”
Quoted by CNN, Cuomo said he immediately signed the new Empire State ban — passed pretty much in the dead of night late Monday — because “you can overpower the extremists with intelligence and common sense.”
That is, unless the extremists happen to be the New York governor and his minions, and the President and Vice President of the United States. It is clear to the firearms industry, gathered here in Las Vegas for the annual Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show, that they aren't interested in preventing crime. What they want is to disarm law-abiding citizens any way they can.
As this column reported Tuesday, this morning’s media show at the White House —during which Mr. Obama, with Joe Biden at his side will use innocent children as props — will unveil the president’s plans. The agenda may include up to 19 executive orders relating to firearms, and a proposed package of legislation to include a nationwide ban on semiautomatic firearms and common capacity magazines for which these guns are designed.
In the midst of this comes a glaring example of the extremist hypocrisy that lies at the center of this debate. On Tuesday, CNN reported that many people are angered about a new video game launched by the National Rifle Association that promotes marksmanship and target shooting.
There seems to be no corresponding alarm among gun prohibitionists about another on-line video game that allows players to murder NRA President David Keene. This story was being covered by the Daily Caller.
Tuesday evening during his annual “State of the Industry” speech, National Shooting Sports Foundation President Steve Sanetti noted that the guns Mr. Obama wants to ban are “the most popular type of firearm” used in America. They are the choice of law enforcement, hunters and private citizens interested in personal and home protection.
He asserted that the mainstream press “refuses to accept that.” Observing that rifles are used in less than five percent of all firearms crimes, and far less often than knives, blunt instruments or even hands and feet, Sanetti accused the media of “calling millions of American sportsmen murderers.”
Tens of thousands of firearms manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers here in Las Vegas are bracing this morning for what the President is about to hand them.
One industry veteran observed sarcastically yesterday that the president’s package should be called the “Obama Sutra” because it will “show how many ways he'll screw gun owners.”
Suggested reading:
David Codrea
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