Remember that Gallup Poll stating that 73% of Americans believe in an Individual Right to Keep and Bear Arms?
Well, the Brady Campaign appears to be responding by going "lalalalalaICan'tHearYoulalalal". That, and stating a bunch of other random statistics.
None of us deny that the NICS check, which was made tolerable by the efforts of the NRA, has kept guns out of the hands of felons. Of course, the BC mentions appeals for denials, and fails to mention that there are law-abiding citizens who are being denied their RIGHT to Keep and Bear Arms via this system. Just sayin'.
The real question our lawmakers should be asking is, with about 40% of all guns sold in America coming from unlicensed sellers, how many more prohibited purchasers would a stronger Brady Law be catching?
40% is a bullshit number, and they know it. But we also know the BC loves bullshit numbers. In fact, the study (on 10-year-old data) they quote actually says: "To date, little information has been available about gun flows in the United States."
I want to know how they compute that 40% from anyway... here is the data on percentage of reported acquisitions:
Gun store 43% (all licensed)
Pawnshop 6% (all licensed)
Other store 11% (store... gotta be licensed)
Gun show or flea market 4% (mostly licensed)
Through the mail 3% (gotta through a licensed dealer)
Member of the family 17% (unlicensed)
Friend or acquaintance 12% (unlicensed)
Other 4% (probably unlicensed)
That suggests 33% plus maybe a handful from gunshows... maybe 35% (absolute MAX of 38%, and only if 100% of gunshow sales were unlicensed, which is NOT true.)
Of that approximately 35% of unlicensed sales, 29% are acquiring a gun from friends and family! We're talking a dad giving his son a .22, Uncle Bob giving his nephew a deer rifle, or someone inheriting Grandpa's shotgun. Support:
"A somewhat higher percentage of handgun acquisitions than long gun acquisitions involved FFLs." Grandpa's shotgun, Uncle bob's deer rifle. Great Aunt Edna isn't handing out .357s to her nieces.
Let's see, what about guns that were actually used by criminals?32 percent of surveyed
felons had stolen their most recently acquired handgun. Ohhh... So the BC wasn't even talking about crime. They were just talking about keeping people from owning guns altogether.
Why the BC would even consider referencing a study that in NO WAY supports their conclusions? Oh, I dunno, maybe because anti-gunners have no interest in actually doing the research to determine the truth of the matter.
Good thing 73% of Americans, give or take, think the Brady Campaign is full of shit. |
