“There is hardly any mental misery worse than that of having our own serious phrases, our own rooted beliefs, caricatured by a charlatan or a hireling.” —George Eliot
Two days ago, the Nashua Telegraph wrote an Editorial asking, “Why does the NRA fear truth about guns?” Upon carefully reading the article and researching the sources (or lack thereof) to support the claims made by the Telegraph, the rank laziness, partisan advocacy of gun control, and an utter lack of integrity emerged in the Telegraph anti-second amendment article.
The telegraph wrote:
“Faced with government-funded research that contradicts NRA claims on gun safety, the gun lobby moved to defund the research and silence the researchers.”
Exactly what government research does the Telegraph refer to? There were no links to support their claims…no references….This editorial was a cut, paste and synthesis of a Bloomberg News article (compare for yourself) …ergo, “Michael Bloomberg.”…the anti-gun Michael Bloomberg. The, “Mayors against Guns,” Michael Bloomberg. The Tin Horn Michael Bloomberg…Who is crystal clear about his anti-gun position.
Now, about that data…Phyllis Schafly at the Federal Observer in back in 2002 wrote,
The federal government (specifically the CDC) says it lacks funding for much-needed research about the alarming increase in autism, asthma, diabetes and other serious childhood conditions. Now we know where scarce research money goes: to fund gun-control propaganda.
Far fewer children die each year in firearm incidents than from car accidents, fires, poisoning, suffocation or drowning. In fact, the firearm-accident rate for children has declined much faster than any other major type of accident.
Schafly also states,
The report fails to admit that, during the last 10 years of its study, accidental childhood deaths from firearms fell by more than 50 percent. This decline in firearm accidents occurred during the same period in which states increasingly allow citizens to carry concealed guns.
In 1999, more than 12,000 Americans died from accidental poisoning, while only 824 died from firearm accidents, only 88 of whom were children. Yet the CDC is apparently more interested in stopping guns than poisons.
What the CDC ran away from
- Alaska has the highest rate of childhood firearm deaths, followed by Montana and then Idaho. Correlation: Sparsely populated states, considerable hunting activity and difficult access to emergency rooms (very far away).
- Densely populated states,(New Jersey, Rhode Island, Hawaii and Massachusetts), lowest rates of childhood firearm deaths. Top 10 states in childhood firearm safety: Densely populated areas with nearby emergency rooms. New Hampshire, has the fifth lowest child mortality rate from firearms, and Vermont, (both, two of the most pro-gun states in the country), has the eleventh lowest rate of childhood deaths from firearms.
- Manipulation of the scope of research: CDC eliminated the District of Columbia, with its’ strict gun-control laws and some of the worst violence in the nation.
- “Gangstah” Exclusion:Youths age 15 and up, who flouted gun control laws and injure unarmed citizens were excluded from the study. Deaths of 15-19 year-olds (the median age-demographic of gang members) by firearms are nearly 10 times the rate of the younger group, according to the National Safety Council, and thus far more significant.
It is also fair to point out that the study was initiated during the Clinton administration, and its only plausible purpose was to promote gun control and to try to rebut John R. Lott’s work, “More Guns, Less Crime.”
Bloomberg, with the Telegraph as its proxy asserts,
When news reporters tried to learn which gun shops repeatedly supply violent criminals with firearms, the NRA lobbied to have gun-trace data exempted from the Freedom of Information Act.
Bollocks. To summarize the Tiarht Amendment in a nutshell,
FACT: Severely limits the authority of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”) to disclose crime gun trace data to the public under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”).
Gun trace data starts with the Manufacturer, moves to the Dealer, then the ATF must then look at the Dealer Bound Book. The information contained on a Form 4473 (NICS check) contains a person’s name, social security number, date of birth, address, and driver’s license number. It is fair to then say that Bloomberg and the Telegraph advocate for a centralized registry, surrender of personal privacy as a price for owning a firearm and the right to publish people’s personal private information.
FACT: Bars admissibility of such data in civil suits against the gun industry.
LIE: Restricts disclosure of the data to law enforcement. The data in the Firearms Trace System database is clearly available to law enforcement. In fact, that was what it was created for.
What Bloomberg and the Telegraph does not say is that both the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Fraternal Order of Police want that data to remain narrowly restricted to law enforcement out of concerns that a public release would likely jeopardize ongoing investigations and put undercover officers at risk.
Bloomberg (Telegraph) then asserts,
“As part of its war on information, the gun lobby has blocked efforts to put sales records into an integrated database”
This is pure, unadulterated advocacy for a centralized gun registry and history is an inconvenient predictor of things to come. 100% of other nations who established centralized registration of firearms, have, within several decades, confiscated and outlawed those very firearms. Centralized registration is a precursor to confiscations and bans.
Bloomberg-Telegraph:
In 1996, Republican Representative Jay Dickey of Arkansas pushed an amendment cutting $2.6 million from the budget of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The import of the amendment was lost on no one. The CDC had spent $2.6 million on gun research the year before. Thereafter, the CDC was expressly prohibited from using funds to “advocate or promote gun control.” A subsequent effort, by Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg of Montana, applied similar restrictions to the National Institutes of Health.
That is $2.6 million spent by a “Governmental Agency engaged in partisan politics…i.e. Gun Control advocacy.What is so glaring is that the Nashua Telegraph endorses the government engaging in ideological partisanship, under color of government authority, decrying a prohibition on advocacy or promotion of gun control. It’s actually in print! They essentially say it’s okay for our government (who serves all of us) to pick a side!
The final issue that totally discredits the Bloomberg-Transcript editorial,
“When advocates of transparency in campaign finance proposed the Disclose Act in Congress to require disclosure of top donors to political advertising campaigns, the NRA once again marched to the beat of its own 100-round drum: The organization obtained an exemption to keep its information secret.”
Really? Did they really write that? We need only look to the Washington Post June 10, 2010 story:
House Democrats (my emphasis) reached a compromise that would exempt the National Rifle Association and other large organizations from proposed campaign finance disclosure rules aimed primarily at large corporations, sources said Monday.”
This was a push back against a Supreme Court ruling that freed corporations, unions and nonprofit groups to spend unlimited amounts in support of or against political candidates. Yep! Labor Unions and non-profit groups like, The Brady Campaign to end Gun Violence, Gun Violence Policy Center, Move-on dot org. But do note, only the NRA was mentioned in the article.
The Nashua Telegraph has been viewed by many as moderate, a little left-leaning at times, yet fair. The Telegraph has now reduced itself to “Fish-wrapper” status.
What is crystal clear is The Nashua Telegraph is, “Anti-second amendment,” joining the ranks of countless who find the United States Constitution an obstacle…Yet, embracing the first amendment in doing so.
The Nashua Telegraph is a proponent of gun confiscation and gun bans. Do not be fooled by any future writing, claiming otherwise.
Do continue to buy the Telegraph paper, that is, when you have some painting to do, a puppy to potty train, a paper maché piñata to make, or some glass items to pack for moving.
