"A lie told often enough becomes truth." - Vladimir Lenin
In my last article, Lies, damn lies and VPC statistics, I demonstrated that the recently released Violence Policy Center (VPC) “study” claiming to document the misbehaviors of carry permit holders was fatally flawed.
If you have not read my article, I encourage you to do so and to spread it to your pro-gun friends and colleagues. Make no mistake about it, the media will be echoing the numbers from this so-called “study” for decades and we must stand ready to refute them whenever they are used.
The above quote from Lenin is particularly apt where the anti-gun media is concerned and we can ill afford to allow permit holders to be dishonestly portrayed as dangerous when, in fact, they represent one of the most law abiding segments of our population.
As I noted in my earlier article, the most glaring flaw in the “study” was in their determination of the threshold question of whether or not the parties involved were even carry permit holders. They admitted that they “relied primarily on news accounts” in classifying individuals as permit holders. This is an indefensible methodology when preparing a “study” which they are portraying as well-researched to members of Congress as the following case will clearly demonstrate.
Case in point
There was a single case in the VPC report from Minnesota. The VPC, apparently relying solely upon a Star Tribune article, reported the incident as:
“On July 24, 2008, Michael C. Iheme shot and killed his wife after she left her job at an assisted living center. Court records show that she had an active harassment restraining order against him and suggest a history of domestic abuse, including threats to kill her. After the shooting, Iheme called 911 and said, “I have killed the woman that mess my life up....” Iheme, who had a concealed handgun permit, was found guilty of second degree murder.”
It is interesting that the VPC mentions “court records” in their narrative. It is actually a very shrewd spin tactic. It implies to the reader that they have exhaustively researched the history and setting of the case and are certain of their facts. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. This is just more mimicry of news reports.
Dr. John Lott, author of one of the quintessential books for gun rights activists, More Guns, Less Crime, recognized this immediately and reached out to trusted local activists to try and put together a nationwide picture of just how many cases were misrepresented.
In Minnesota, he contacted Andrew Rothman, Executive Director of The Minnesota Association of Defensive Firearm Instructors (MADFI). Andrew contacted noted author and activist Joel Rosenberg, and Joel was able to contact other prominent local attorneys and activists who were able to confirm verbally with their sources in law enforcement that Iheme was not a permit holder.
But actual court records were what was needed to validate the verbal assurances. Since grassroots activists dedicate their time despite working full-time jobs, neither Andrew nor Joel was able to get free and an answer was needed quickly. Andrew called me. New to the state and a wet-behind-the-ears 2L law student, a quick trip to the Hennepin County courthouse was just the kind of adventure to break me in.
It turned out that parking was the most difficult part of my task. Once there, the nice lady at the records office provided me a case file about an inch and a half thick, and approximately 15 minutes later, I was three-quarters of the way through the file when I found what we were looking for … the original complaint, each page of which is clickable below for your viewing pleasure. The key pieces of data are to be found on pages 2 and 5 and I have highlighted them for your convenience.
I should note that the full details of how the Iheme deception went from phone call to the floor of the Senate is a moving and educational illustration of just how powerful grassroots activism can be and I will be detailing it in tomorrow’s column.
But now, back to the data that the VPC could have easily found themselves if they had even one wet-behind-the-ears activist such as myself in Minnesota. Unfortunately for them, it appears that true grassroots activism is not a part of their organization.
Amazingly, the Offender Tracking Form has a standard question on it that asks the question “Does the subject hold a Minnesota permit to carry a pistol?” and then directs the officer filing the complaint to run a QPC query. The answer on Mr. Iheme’s Offender Tracking Form says “No Permit on File.” It turns out that not only did Mr. Iheme not have a Minnesota carry permit, but he had never even applied for one!
The Brady Campaign joins in
But the VPC is not the only anti-self-defense group to blatantly misrepresent the Iheme case. The Brady Campaign, more commonly known by their previous name of Handgun Control, Inc., has been highlighting the case on its website since it occurred.
In case they remove it after it becomes clear that the deception has been exposed, I have captured a screen shot of the page.
In addition to their attempt to use Iheme’s criminal act to paint all permit holders in a negative light, they also launched a blistering attack on the dedicated law enforcement officers in Minnesota, derisively asking “how could the state allow him to hold a concealed carry permit?”
The answer is simple … if Minnesota’s law enforcement officers are going to be forced to pursue mythological objects, then I vote we launch a search for bigfoot. We will find the elusive sasquatch long before we find Mr. Iheme’s non-existent carry permit.
But did they both just make it up?
While I personally believe the VPC and the Brady Campaign to be more than willing to outright lie if it forwarded their agenda and they felt they could get away with it, I do not believe that was the case here.
The truth I believe is much more damning in its own way. While gun owners invest a great deal of time in understanding the laws of the state they live in as well as the states in which they intend to transport or carry firearms, gun control groups actually understand very little about the state of gun laws in America and the media understand even less.
The chain of events apparently went something like this …
Page 2 of the complaint says:
“In a search of the Toyota driven to the scene by defendant, police officers recovered a .45 caliber magazine, a Minnesota permit to purchase a handgun, and a receipt from Cabela’s to buy the handgun.”
The report in the Star Tribune shortened this to:
“police found a gun permit and Cabela's receipt for the gun”
And finally, VPC and Brady, securely wrapped in the blanket of ignorance and prejudice that are the hallmarks of the anti-self-defense mindset, added “concealed carry” back to the description because they do not even understand the difference between a purchase permit and a carry permit.
After all, when your ultimate goal is the elimination of all civilian ownership of firearms, why bother learning about the safeguards and restrictions already in place?
Going forward
As activists across the country seek the same information in courthouses in their own states, I suspect that the number of improperly reported permit holders will rise quickly. Therefore, I call upon the VPC to immediately recall and renounce this “study”. Failure to do so, in the face of clear evidence that the report is flawed, can only be interpreted as intentional fraud.
However, as I think about it, use of knowingly misleading or false data in congressional testimony is a felony under 18 U.S.C. § 1001. Perhaps Senator Schumer or Durbin should use this report after all.
Comments
Gee, Pierce, if you're accusing the VPC of a felony--why don't you make the complaint? After all, you're a law student. One who commutes to the Land O' Lakes.
Of course, the VPC noted the limitations of its study in its study, so I'm thinking you really don't want a court of law knowing your reading skills aren't up to snuff.
Dear Captain Kidd. Feel free to call them limitations, everybody else will stick with calling them deliberate, misleading lies. Best Regards. Commodore Kidd. P.S. Excellent article John.
It would be great if they would get caught and called to task somehow or even prosecuted for their lies if not for their seemingly endless assault on the Constitution and the freedoms it guarantees. Hopefully your writings and efforts will keep shining the light of truth on these cockroaches until they die or finally run for cover. Keep up the fine work.
If they'd noted up front that they weren't doing any research and would be adding "facts" that weren't in their sources, that would be noting the "limitations" up front. What they did was lie. Again. The VPC has been lying like this for years and it is their explicitly stated policy to do so. (Specifically, Sugarmann stated that it is VPC policy to exploit public confusion between "semi-automatic" and "fully automatic" firearms.
You stay classy, Kidd.
Bottom line: the gun-rights side has people. The anti-rights side has cash. On the national level, the NRA has more cash than they do, but on the local level, the reason they get boxed about the ears repeatedly is that very few people care about their side of the issue enough to do much about it.
Thank you John, for exposing this. It is not too surprising.
I only fear that Sugarmann and Helmke are smiling, knowing that gun-rights activists are staying busy cleaning up their lies, while they enjoy being out on the front of the news cycles. They are pathetic.
Lies, Damn Lies, and Politics!
If there is a way to sue for slander, fraud, etc. why not?
Can there be shown a causation between VPC/Brady deceptions and some harm which has befallen the public (propaganda which leads to gun bans which result in the deaths/injury of persons not allowed to defend themselves)? Sting them in the wallet, and put the officers of said propaganda organizations in jail. Might actually lead to news folks reporting fact rather than inuendo!
Sure, Mike Settles--John Pierce is your man to sue them. Right after his felony complaint.
It appears Pierce's "research" is somewhat lacking. The fact a hangun permit wasn't on file in Hennepin County doesn't mean it was missing from some other county in MN. Had Pierce done a bit better research (we should cut him some slack because he's not from MN), he might know Hennepin County handles firearms transactions differently from other counties.
"Bottom line: the gun-rights side has people. The anti-rights side has cash. On the national level, the NRA has more cash than they do, but on the local level, the reason they get boxed about the ears repeatedly is that very few people care about their side of the issue enough to do much about it. "
Just plain weird.
The so-called "gun rights" side don't have people. They are a very small, albeit very loud, minority. Nor does every NRA member buy into the NRA agenda. In every poll, without exception, the American public rejects those NRA agenda items held dear by this loud and, often, extremist minority.
Richard Poplawski (killed three LEOs)
White supremacist, active protection order against him and a dishonorable discharge from the Marines. Existing gun control laws preventing him from even owning or posessing a gun, but shoddy government records didn't stop him. Poplawski used a rifle, virtually standing at his front door, and no handguns. One cannot carry a rifle on a concealed carry license so the license issue was moot.
Ashford Thompson (killed one LEO)
Convicted and awaiting sentencing. This is the one who appears to be a bad seed in the aftermath, but there were no convictions or other conditions to prohibit gun ownership. Like John Hinckley before he shot Reagan, Brady, Delahanty and McCarthy. Innocent until proven guilty.
Christina Korbe (killed one LEO)
Charged, not convicted. Shooting occurred in her home so a concealed carry license didn't factor in. Could have just as easily happened without the license. Husband is an alleged drug dealer and they look like bad seeds.
I've gone through the VPC study, and I have one or two observations on the killings of LEOs.
James Wonder (killed one LEO)
Charged, not convicted. Appears to have been a case of road rage but it's unclear who was raging.
Jason Kenneth Hamilton (killed one LEO)
Member of the Aryan Nations, owned fully automatic firearms (which weren't used in his killing spree, according to most new accounts), convicted of domestic battery in 2006, aggravated assault in 1992, and marijuana possession in 1996. Existing gun control laws preventing him from even owning or posessing a gun, but shoddy government records didn't stop him. Also, Hamilton used two rifles and no handguns. One cannot carry a rifle on a concealed carry license so the license issue was moot.
"if you're accusing the VPC of a felony"
"you really don't want a court of law knowing your reading skills aren't up to snuff. "
Wow. Pot meet Kettle.
"The so-called "gun rights" side don't have people. "
Really? Add up the membership of ALL the anti-gun groups in the country and then compare that number to JUST the NRA. Then figure in the SAF, JPFO, GOA, CCRKBA, etc. Give yourself a 90% cross membership rate.
I've been told by 'polls' that NRA members 'overwhelmingly support' gun control but have yet to find a single one who's ever been asked. Polls of ACTUAL NRA members show a different story.
My own quibble with this -- and it's a serious one -- is that it overstates some folks' roles in this, particularly, well, mine. See my own post at windypundit.com. The folks who really did the work were (in order of getting involved and spotting the key issues) John Lott, Andrew Rothman, and David Gross. Pierce and I just did the flunky stuff. Anybody with a couple of free hours, a few bucks, and the case number David supplied could have gotten the documents (all of which are public data), as a nineteen-year-old kid of my acquaintance was prepared to do; anybody with a phone could have made a phone call, as I did.
Amazing how, with a little central coordination, a little research and a few phone calls adds up to something isn't it?
Great Work John!
Once more, Pierce's research is incomplete. He checked one source and declred the search over.
Pierce also omits the fact that many states don't track crimes committed by carry permit holders. Thus, the VPC report understates the frequency of crimes by permit holders.
Captain Kidd says:
"Once more, Pierce's research is incomplete. He checked one source and declred the search over."
At least he found some actual documentation to base his contention on not just a new report.
Captain Kidd says:
"Pierce also omits the fact that many states don't track crimes committed by carry permit holders. Thus, the VPC report understates the frequency of crimes by permit holders."
Texas and Florida both tracked this for many years after their CCW laws went into affect. Guess what they learned. Permit holders were much MORE law abiding than the population and also more law abiding than even cops. Both states stopped tracking this because it was a waist of resources to track something that was a non-issue.
Captain Kidd says:
The fact a hangun permit wasn't on file in Hennepin County doesn't mean it was missing from some other county in MN. ...Hennepin County handles firearms transactions differently from other counties.
You're wrong or lying. Minnesota carry permits (and denials) are ALL entered into a statewide database, which is available to law enforcement 24/7. Look at page 5, kiddy. The police looked at that statewide database.
The truth is simple: The VPC got caught lying their butts off...again.
(corrected)
Captain Kidd says:
-----
The fact a hangun permit wasn't on file in Hennepin County doesn't mean it was missing from some other county in MN. ...Hennepin County handles firearms transactions differently from other counties.
------
You're wrong. As with the VPC, I have to wonder whether you are just stupid or actually lying. Minnesota carry permits (and denials) are ALL entered into a statewide database, which is available to law enforcement 24/7. Look at page 5, kiddy. The police looked at that statewide database.
The truth is simple: The VPC got caught lying their butts off...again. You should get behind a more honest organization. Try the NRA.
as a vpc/brady member, Captain Kidd trolls sites hoping to spread the lies.
I wonder if it hurts to be as blatantly stupid as Captain Kidd. Case in point:
"[...] but on the local level, the reason they get boxed about the ears repeatedly is that very few people care about their side of the issue enough to do much about it. "
Really? Is that why so many states have enacted laws in the past 10-15 years reinstating the right to carry? Is that also why states like Tennessee and Arizona have recently lifted bans on carrying in restaurants and state and local parks? Is that why there are constantly fewer and fewer restrictions on our rights to carry? Is it all because we've been getting "boxed about the ears"?
Moron.
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