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Brady Campaign: Biased, inaccurate research
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In May of 2007, the Brady Center, research arm of the Brady Campaign, published a report entitled No Gun Left Behind: The Gun Lobby’s Campaign to Push Guns Into Colleges and Schools. Though nearly two years have passed, numerous inaccuracies remain which, having persisted this long in a publicly-accessible document, call into question the Brady Campaign’s ability to publish credible reports and/or their capacity for telling the truth.
The topic here is theirallegation that getting a concealed carry license is too easy and therefore a threat to public safety:
Over the last decade, the gun lobby has pushed hard in all 50 states to permit the carrying of concealed weapons by nearly everyone except convicted felons. These “shall-issue” carrying concealed weapons (CCW) laws require state authorities to issue CCW licenses to virtually anyone who applies, regardless of whether the applicant can demonstrate a need to carry a gun. As a result, millions of Americans are now licensed to carry concealed handguns in public.
To bolster their claims, Brady’s report contains an appendix of stories where alleged CCW licensees broke the law. Two of these incidents have proven to be self-defense, while Brady maintains both cases were murder. The first incident is fairly straightforward:
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, January 1, 2006. Rogelio Monero [sic], 49, allegedly shot and killed Victor Manuel Villanueva, 17, during a New Year’s altercation as Moreno tried to stop a fight between Villanueva and a third party. Moreno was charged with manslaughter.
A Fort Lauderdale Police Department press release corroborated the basic facts of the case, and also contained contact information within the department. A phone call to their Media Relations officer resulted in her statement that the case was ruled a “justifiable shooting.”
The second case is far more interesting. No Gun Left Behind states:
Vancouver, WA, October 3, 2006. Jon W. Loveless, unemployed for ten years, daily marijuana smoker, and father of two children – said that he shot “until my gun was empty” at Kenneth Eichorn [sic], because Eichorn [sic] had “a weird look” on his face. Loveless also claimed that Eichorn [sic] held a handgun, but the Eichorn [sic] family disputes the claim. Loveless was charged with one count of second-degree murder.
The above reference was from an article allegedly published on October 3, 2006 by the Vancouver Columbian and entitled “Documents: Suspect Fired Gun ‘Until Empty’”. Searching the Columbian archives yielded five articles, none of which were dated October 3, 2006.
An October 5, 2006 Columbian article places the “weird look” in context:
Loveless told detectives from the Vancouver Police Department that he only shot Eichhorn after Eichhorn refused to drop his handgun and got a “weird look,” according to court documents. There were no other witnesses.
A day later, another Columbian article noted:
Loveless told detectives he thought it was going to be a friendly meeting to discuss a piece of radio equipment, but when he pulled his truck alongside Eichhorn’s truck he said Eichhorn had a gun pointed at him.
Loveless, who has a concealed weapons permit, said he retrieved his gun from his glove compartment and pointed it at Eichhorn.
“Loveless claims that he directed Eichhorn to drop the weapon but that Eichhorn “got a weird look” on his face,” Detective Jon Thompson wrote. “Believing that Eichhorn was about to fire his handgun, Loveless instead fired his handgun several times.”
Brady’s other inaccuracies include:
· No mention of Loveless’s employment status or drug usage.
· No archived Columbian article entitled “Suspect fired gun ‘until empty’”.
· No quotes from Eichhorn’s family.
· No evidence that Loveless shot his gun “until empty”, although the police report says he shot “several times.”
Research found no further articles for “Jon W. Loveless” or “Jon Loveless” or “Kenneth Eichhorn.” Nor was there any search results for “suspect fired gun,” which is part of the title of the article referenced by Brady and attributed to Columbian.
Using hearsay to imply guilt and redacting vital details reveals Brady’s bias against self-defense and firearms ownership, but most disturbing is their bias against the truth. The most important question: Why is Brady still considered a reliable authority on gun control policy?
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For in-depth analysis on the Brady Campaign, read Howard’s book Four Hundred Years of Gun Control: Why Isn’t It Working?, which deconstructs the gun control agenda and motivates more people to support our civil right of self-defense.
References
All Columbian articles downloaded from their archives.
Check out other Gun Rights Examiners:
- Atlanta: Mainstream media misleads on the gun permit issue
- Austin: Putting the 'gun lobby' in its place
- Boston: The Educated Patriot: Rally at Lexington Green April 19, 2009
- Charlotte: 'Red neck driving range'
- Cleveland: What's the matter with you people, can't you see the sky is falling?
- DC: San Diego District Attorney says LA DA's memo on open carry is wrong!
- Denver: Don't be blinded by the exceptions
- Los Angeles: If I Only Had A Gun misfires for 20/20 when they cannot stay on topic.
- Milwaukee: Vote today for Constitutional justice- Vote Koschnick
- Minneapolis: A Cowboy's Easter
- National: If we can't trust ATF under oath, when can we trust them?
- Seattle: WA senator's 'open season on criminals' remark misrepresented, but not 'lead enema'
- St. Louis: Why the changing story on a new federal 'assault weapons' ban?
- Wisconsin: New judge in town
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