Washington Post Shills for MAIG

Not unexpectedly, the Washington Post has chimed in on the report released earlier this week by Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG).  And, also to no one's surprise, they have pulled out the same tired talking points they have used for years on the subject of gun shows and sales by private individuals.

Virginia should close the loophole that allows unlicensed sellers to sell weapons at gun shows to buyers without requiring background checks or purchase permits. This loophole allows unfit purchasers -- gun traffickers, convicted felons and the mentally ill -- to connect easily and undetected with private sellers.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, there is no "loophole."  Federal law allows individuals to sell firearms that are part of their private collection to another individual.  If you don't like the law, fine, but don't refer a totally legal act as a "loophole."

The Post (nor MAIG for that matter) is also not interested in telling the whole story.

-- Of 10 key gun control laws identified in the report, Virginia has enacted just four. Among the nation's 12 largest states, which include Virginia, only Texas, Florida, Ohio and Georgia have gun laws that are more lax. Jurisdictions with tougher statutes -- New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, the District -- rank among the nation's least likely places for out-of-state criminals to buy weapons.

What the Mayors and the Post don't tell you is the number one resource for firearms used by criminals in a state is that state (i.e. for New York, criminals get most of their guns from,  New York).

At least readers of the Richmond Times Dispatch (RTD) get a truer picture of the mayors report. While I disagree with the RTD's claim that had it not been for Virginia's handgun rationing law (one gun-a-month) that the numbers found by the mayors could have been worse, they did have it right in the closing to their editorial this morning:

State and federal authorities could reduce gun violence even more by conducting house-to-house searches for illicit firearms. But that would constitute an unacceptable infringement on the liberty of law-abiding citizens. So, too, would some of the proposals advanced by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, such as requiring a permit to own a handgun. Americans do not need the government's permission to exercise their First Amendment rights, and they should not need the government's permission to exercise their Second Amendment rights, either.

Finally, as posted earlier this week, ATF has said on numerous occasions that the data used by the mayors for their report is not intended to be used for that purpose.  It is merely a snapshot.  But when has the anti-rights crowd been interested in presenting the facts?

I will be on Cam and Company tonight on NRANews.com and Sirius/XM Patriot at 9:40 to discuss both editorials.