U.S.A. — “President Biden Announces 13 New Actions to Reduce Gun Violence by Maximizing the Benefits of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act,” a Sunday White House Briefing Room “Fact Sheet” statement claims. The unproven presumptions packed into that headline are that “gun violence” is a legitimate term rather than an exploitable political one, that it will be reduced, that infringements on rights are beneficial, that they are politically unifying, and that the result will be safer communities.
That’s some concentrated weasel-wording there, packing five full lies in just 20 words. Seasoned Democrat propagandists are nothing if not pros at that.
“These reports make clear that BSCA is saving lives,” the statement continues, citing as “proof” that “enhanced background checks” have kept some under-21-year-olds from buying guns, prosecutions of people, some of whom may just be enthusiasts and collectors, is up, and tax plunder has been redistributed “to make our schools safer, improve access to mental health services, and help young people deal with the trauma and grief resulting from gun violence.”
That the schools are still “gun-free” predator empowerment zones, and that the statement is short on empirically documenting how swarms of headshrinkers have done anything but encourage and fund complementary neuroses is secondary to an observable reality: They’re claiming lives are being saved without actually proving that they are. Yeah, they’re pros at this.
As for those benefits, the statement is promising that will be forthcoming, it’s curious that an administration that’s talking about enhanced background checks is so quiet – some might say obstructionist – on the president’s son, Hunter Biden, getting a gun after denying using controlled substances on a Form 4473 Firearms Transaction Record. ATF, the Justice Department, and a federal court have all said that’s Hunter’s private business and no one else’s, and the Secret Service has signed an affidavit denying any involvement at all.
As far as keeping guns out of dangerous hands, the false assumption being pushed here is one that ignores a 2016 Department of Justice prisoner survey:
“An estimated 287,400 prisoners had possessed a firearm during their offense. Among these, more than half (56%) had either stolen it (6%), found it at the scene of the crime (7%), or obtained it off the street or from the underground market (43%). Most of the remainder (25%) had obtained it from a family member or friend, or as a gift. Seven percent had purchased it under their own name from a licensed firearm dealer.”
In other words, don’t look for weekend headlines on Chicago and Baltimore homicides to show a statistically significant reduction anytime soon. Ditto for anything “mental health” or “red flag”-related, especially since we’re basically talking bribes to the states to do end runs around due process.
The whole thing is a meaningless boondoggle that does what Democrats with the media in their pockets do best: Spend money that’s not theirs, attack rights, and spread lies. And helping them do that this time out were the usual suspects from the Vichycon wing of the GOP, the useful idiot/self-serving swamp creatures who continually prove themselves adept at turning coats and stabbing backs.
First, we get to thank Marco Rubio, who introduced the bill.
Then there are 10 Senate Republicans who cut a deal in June of last year to an “agreement in principle [talk about an oxymoron] on gun control legislation,” which was “the number needed to break a GOP filibuster on the package.” They were:
- John Cornyn, R-Texas
- Thom Tillis, R-N.C.
- Roy Blunt, R-Mo.
- Richard Burr, R-N.C.
- Bill Cassidy, R-La.
- Susan Collins, R-Maine
- Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
- Rob Portman, R-Ohio
- Mitt Romney, R-Utah
- Pat Toomey, R-Pa.
And true to what we’ve come to expect from them, NRA at the time provided cover, saying:
“As is our policy, the NRA does not take positions on ‘frameworks’. We will make our position known when the full text of the bill is available for review.”
That way, a form of “plausible deniability” could be maintained with those who don’t look too closely at things to realize the bill itself would never have advanced in the first place without that “compromise.” No matter, memories are short, and everyone was counting on four of the senators retiring in 2022 and another five not being up for re-election until 2026.
Assuming Rubio, Cornyn, Tillis, Graham, and McConnell are still in the running, expect “A” grades and boilerplate assurances that they’re “staunch defenders of the Second Amendment.”
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
What does it mean when the ‘government of the people’ makes it explicitly clear what they want but the Government does exactly the opposite?
Vote out anyone (Dem or GOP) that does NOT stand for the second amendment! PEROID!
Spoons are more of a concern for me.. too many fat people.
Ban them spoons.
My rifles are well behaved and shouldn’t be punished.
i am so sad to have little marco as my senator for this and pushing the red flag laws after parkland.
i wish some real republican would run against him.
Add to that a quick search of North Carolina’s Administrative Office of the Courts records that show that between 2017 and 2022, well over 50,000 people were charged with the felony crime “Felon in Possession of a Firearm”, but just a small number ever convicted. Thousands upon thousands of those charges have been forgotten or dismissed. It would seem that prosecutors don’t really take these crimes very seriously even though both North Carolina senators voted for this bill, obviously wanting to “Do Something”® about this problem. Universal Background Checks are useless if Felons and other criminals simply ignore such laws.
As I’ve said many times on ammoland (and elsewhere too), the beltway has been bought and paid for. The vast bulk of them, Rs and Ds alike, follow the same marching orders from the same masters. Until we can fix that problem, not much else we do will matter. They’ll just use our own tax dollars to destroy us. We can (and are), and should, be fighting delaying actions all the way around. But ultimately, until we can cut the head off this snake, it will just keep growing new tentacles. For as long as we keep feeding it. Stop… Read more »