Embracing the new Democratic Zeitgeist on gun control, Governor Terry McAuliffe of Virginia shows he’s not going to be left out of the gun hatin’ game with a new Executive Order which supposedly outlaws firearms in some state-owned buildings. I’m not sure how he has the authority to do that absent action from the legislature. He’s also setting up a task force and hot line. Oooh. That’s action for you. All Virginia needs is for politicians to set up a few more task forces and problem solved, right? In his EO, he repeats the lie that 40% of all guns are processed through private transactions. We know, in fact, it’s a lie because the states that have banned private transfers of firearms have seen very little in the way of transactions going through their background check systems. So either people are ignoring the law, or this was a very small subset of transactions to begin with.
Obama stated the other day that it was easier to buy guns in this country than books. That’s funny, because I’ve never had to go through a background check and fill out federal forms to buy a book. I don’t even have to show ID to buy a book. There aren’t people out there trying to make it illegal for me to lend a friend a book. You don’t need a license to write, print, distribute, or sell books. I don’t need to show I’m literate to and have a license to carry a book in public.
It’s ridiculous. Obama knows it’s ridiculous. McAuliffe knows it’s ridiculous. So why do they lie? Because they know the needle of public opinion is swinging more toward people not wanting more gun control laws. They need that needle to start swinging back in their favor, and one way to accomplish that is to lie to the ignorant about what the current federal gun laws are. They need people to believe that the gun business is like some kind of free wheeling, third world open air bazaar like you’d fine in Somalia. If people understood what the gun laws really are, they might be satisfied, or even a little ticked off.
The only way we can stop these people is by punishing them at the ballot box. McAuliffe and Obama are both lame ducks, so punish their party. Tim Kaine was up there with McAuliffe on stage, cheering him on. Tim Kaine is up for re-election in 2018, a midterm. In 2014, Mark Warner barely got by Ed Gillespie, and Warner is far more moderate. Kaine is vulnerable with the right candidate.
It’s not just a lie but a rerun.
The president gave almost exactly the same book comment back in March.
So much of what is said is merely rote, ritualized lies that exist to sway the ignorant and virtue-signal allies.
Agreed Vote for Kaine’s opponent which may be Gillespie according to his statement a month ago on WMAL
WMAL is still broadcasting? Cool!
WMAL on the Mall in the morning 6-9 gets a lot of people to answer questions. Gillespie was on about a month ago and the were trying to get him to commit to a run against Kaine. He said it was looking good.
Considering how he almost won against Warner who was tougher I hope he does. There was Democratic sweep last time in VA . Va is not blue and it does swing a lot.
So either people are ignoring the law, or this was a very small subset of transactions to begin with.
I’d say mostly the former, though 40% is not right either.
Gun control has been a total failure. So they have to push the narrative that “we have no gun control”. That is why every time they pass a new gun control law they say, “This is a good first step“, and then immediately go back to pretending we have “no gun control”.
The only good thing … if 2016 does turn out to be a good year for Republicans where we gain the presidency, keep the house and senate and maybe expand control in states (not at all impossible, though a total win across the board is difficult) we can point out that Gun Control didn’t help the democrats and being pro-gun didn’t hurt the Republicans.
Of course, we have to get past the idiots who loudly proclaim “I won’t vote for _______ because s/he doesn’t agree with me 100% on every single thing my religious views dictate” and get them to vote based on issues they can make a difference on. Like gun rights.
The only way I’ll ever find a candidate who agrees with me 100% is to run myself.
For more practical purposes, I’d take an electable candidate who agrees with me on two or three key issues (gun rights being one of them) and most of the rest.
The problem with the “40%” number is it is from the Brady required prison studies in the ’90s. It listed 40% from “friends/family/acquaintances” and 40% from “street sales.”
Prohibited people are knowingly breaking the law buying or selling either way, as are their “friends/family/acquaintances” & “street sellers” who, realistically, know their status.
Friends and family are exempted under most iterations of BCG’s anyway, so UBC’s realistically can only capture the remaining “unknowing private sellers/providers” sub-group, which has to be vanishingly small.
So, if guns are easier to buy than books, that should mean that I should be able to find a new gun that costs $6, a used one for $1, and occasionally pick one up for free at the local library, right? And I bet a good rocket launcher will cost only $150 (the cost of a typical textbook). I’ve been missing out!
For crying out loud, economic reasons alone will make guns more difficult to obtain than books! (Never mind that it’s far easier to find houses with books in them, than houses with guns…)
As much as I fear that the Democrats will win this round, I take some comfort in that all the Democrat candidates are terrible candidates, and only about half or so of the Republicans are.
This is politics, however, so anything can happen…
So either people are ignoring the law, or this was a very small subset of transactions to begin with.
Both, I’m guessing.
Here in Oregon the Sheriffs are mostly saying they don’t intend to waste resources enforcing the private transfer law – and probably realize that a whole lot of people are going to ignore it anyway, even outside of the criminal subculture.
Virtue Signalling: http://new.spectator.co.uk/2015/04/hating-the-daily-mail-is-a-substitute-for-doing-good/
Actually I think they lie because other fundraising has dried up and they are absolutely desperate for Bloomberg’s $$$$$