Rob Pincus Talks Privately Made Firearms with NPR

On April 18, after Biden announced his new rule related to the private manufacture of firearms, NPR talked to several gun ban advocates, including failed ATF nominee David Chipman, and also spoke interviewed firearms trainer Rob Pincus.  You can hear Pincus's comments by clicking here.  NPR led off with Chipman and San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, and at around the 18 minute mark, they play the pre-recorded comments of Rob Pincus.  Because his part was pre-recorded, Rob had no opportunity to discuss anything that had been said before and no opportunity to defend himself when Chipman took cheap shots when he was asked what he thought of Pincus' comments.  Chipman demonstrated once again why he never should have been nominated to head ATF.  Rob did a great job explaining why regulating kits used to build privately owned firearms should not be regulated by the federal government.  If you are interested, in the entire program, you can find that by clicking here.

NPR Touts Study Claiming People More Likely to Pull Trigger if Target is Black

NPR posted this story Saturday night:

Are most people more likely to pull the trigger of a gun if the person they're shooting at is black?

A new meta-analysis set out to answer that question. Yara Mekawi of the University of Illinois and her co-author, Konrad Bresin, drew together findings from 42 different studies on trigger bias to examine whether race affects how likely a target is to be shot.

"What we found is that it does," Mekawi tells NPR's Arun Rath. "In our study we found two main things: First, people were quicker to shoot black targets with a gun, relative to white targets with a gun. And ... people were more trigger-happy when shooting black targets compared to shooting white targets."

That is, shooters weren't just faster to fire at black targets; they were also more likely to fire at a black target.

My gut told me there was something screwy about this, and it turns out my gut was right. Nick Leghorn out over on The Truth About Guns dug in to the meat of the "study" and found it did not even involve people actually shooting targets.  First, for those who are like me and are not familiar with "meta-analysis," here is Longhorn's definition:

...it's when psychology students come up with ridiculous premises for studies (typically designed to appeal to their liberal professors and get as much publicity as possible), and then professors coerce their students to participate in exchange for class credit. So right off the bat the premise of the research is fairly biased, as the entire point is to be as controversial as possible.

For this specific study no actual direct observation was done. Instead, the researchers simply gathered up about fifty different studies and directly compared their results. As the researchers themselves admit, the results weren’t always the same.

Now, to the part about not actually shooting targets, participants were placed at a computer and asked to hit two different buttons (“shoot” and “no shoot”) depending on what they saw. This begs the question, "isn't there a psychological difference between pressing a button and actually pulling a trigger?"  I did not take psychology in college but Longhorn did, and he confirms that it's the only thing he does remember, and that there is a difference, thus, there is no 1:1 correlation between what was being tested and what the “researchers” claimed:

That’s like asking someone to choose between a banana and an apple for dinner and claiming that choosing a banana proves they are a racist.

Finally, only one of the studies included in this "analysis" had an average participant age of 21 or older.  So, not only were the vast majority of the participants too young to purchase a handgun in the first place, but would also not likely be your average police officer. So, they did not even study the populations for which they were trying to draw conclusions.   It's just another example of cherry picking data and studies that align with a bias against guns and gun owners.

Former Columbine High School Student Promoting Concealed Carry for Educators

NPR has the story here.  Patrick Neville is a Republican in the Colorado State Legislature but, in 1999, he was a 15 year-old student at Columbine High School on his way to lunch when two fellow students armed with firearms and pipe bombs started the carnage that resulted in the killing of one teacher and 12 students. He believes that if someone in the school had been armed, more of his friends might be alive today.

"They're just easy targets ... for a criminal, a terrorist or anyone intent on doing harm," Neville says. "I wake up every day and send my kid to school on blind faith that she's going to return home safe when there's really no safeguards for our schools."

A poll done last year by Quinnipiac University found that 50 percent of Coloradans supported the idea of arming teachers in schools, while 45 percent opposed.

There is a similar effort in the Wyoming legislature this year.  There, not only is there an effort to allow carry in schools, but also to provide funding so that school staff who carry are prepared should they have to act.

In Colorado, the effort faces long odds of becoming law with the House and Governor's office controlled by Democrats.  But, as the photo in the article illustrates, it has support among educators.  The photo was of educators taking part in concealed carry courses in Englewood, CO.  It hopefully won't be long before legislators start listening to those educators and school staff who wish to be armed to protect the children in their charge.  And, hopefully, Virginia will stop ignoring the bills introduced on the subject and actually allow debate on the topic.

NPR: Do Guns on the Premises Make Workplaces Safe?

That's the question addressed in an All Things Considered story on Friday.  The report looked at the states that have laws allowing employees to keep a firearm in their car while at work.  When will people learn that a "No Weapons Allowed" sign will not stop someone intent on doing harm.  Concealed Carry Magazine executive editor Kevin Michalowski, was featured in the story and told how his brother attempted to rob a business in Arizona and was stopped by an off duty police officer who happened to have his firearm.  The story is also another illustration how people who are not gun owners don't understand the concept of concealed carry:

In 1993, Heisse was working in a high-rise building in San Francisco when failed businessman Gian Luigi Ferri opened fire, killing eight people before turning the gun on himself. Some of the victims included Heisse's colleagues.

"What I wasn't prepared for was walking through the aftermath of an event like that, and stepping over the body of a young law student that I had hired to work for me for the summer," he says.
Heisse says neither he nor other survivors of that tragedy believe a gun could have stopped the carnage.

"These scenes don't play out like they do in the movies," he says. "It's incredibly stressful. To think that the untrained, inexperienced person in that stressful situation will make all the right decisions is, I think, foolish."

Again, the comments about "untrained" people carrying firearms.  If all these people are so untrained, why don't you have over 8 million (the estimated number of people with concealed carry permits) people being locked up for shooting the wrong people? 

NPR Touts Taxpayer Funded Research as Way to "Counter Gun Violence"

For almost 20 years, the gun ban lobby has complained that the NRA has shut down funding for so-called "gun violence research" that would supposedly give us the data we need to reduce crime committed with a firearm.  NPR reports this morning that taxpayer money has started flowing again to such activity:

...But to start with, the CDC has begun offering more than $7 million in grants to states to expand the agency's National Violent Death Reporting System. The hope is that will also capture more data on firearm fatalities.

While the taxpayers may not have been funding research, that doesn't mean there hasn't been any research.  Dr. John Lott released a study on the subject in February of 2014 and noted:

There is no evidence that gun control research fell when restrictions were put on federally funded research. Indeed, whether one looks at the number of total articles or total pages, firearms research has been as high or higher than when the restrictions were enacted. In 2013, well before federal funding could have any impact on publications, there was an explosion in firearms research in medical journals.

Unfortunately, when the taxpayers fund research, the money goes to support data that leads to gun ban proposals.

Gun Ban Lobby Takes Note of Pro-Rights Success

NPR has this story today about the gun ban lobby learning from the pro-rights successes in 2013. As most of these stories do, the author points to the money that NRA can raise and spend on protecting our rights.  What the article does not say is that the gun ban lobby actually outspent the pro-rights side in advertising in 2013.  Much of what the NRA spent was on lobbying.  Bloomberg can match what the NRA spends, and more.  But simple money is not what motivates legislators.  Getting the votes to win elections and keep their jobs does.  Can Bloomberg's money do that?  It didn't in Colorado. 

Many in the gun ban lobby point to the recent Virginia election where all three anti-rights candidates won, and Bloomberg invested $3 million in the last couple of weeks of the campaign, as proof the tide is turning.  But the top of the Republican ticket ran a terrible campaign, and Democrat Terry McAuliffe avoided the subject until most polls showed him with a comfortable double digit lead.  It can be argued that his final margin of approximately two points rather than the more sizable margins indicated in late polls, was caused by his pivot to gun control.  It should also be noted that the two Northern Virginia House of Delegates races in which Bloomberg invested did not go his way.

The NPR story also talked about the other lesson learned by the gun ban lobby - that an energized grassroots  is what really makes a difference:

But 2013 also reminded everyone that sometimes money can't substitute for good old-fashioned grass-roots organizing. The NRA coordinated its base well in 2013, Glaze points out.  

"NRA has owned this issue for a generation. They've had the only political operation," he says. "They have the grass-roots strength, and we simply weren't there yet. But we're getting there."

The real question is, can the gun ban lobby create a grassroots movement of over 5 million dues paying members, and an even larger group of like minded people who are willing to act at a moment's notice?

Again, Gun Ban Advocates Use Mass Murder to Push Gun Control

Christina Bellantoni and Katelyn Polantz have this story on PBS.org on how talk has turned to gun control after the mass murders in DC at the Navy Yard yesterday.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., an advocate for gun control since the assassinations of San Francisco's mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk in 1978, went there.

"Congress must stop shirking its responsibility and resume a thoughtful debate on gun violence in this country. We must do more to stop this endless loss of life," she said Monday.

Reports are that the shooter entered the Navy Yard with a shotgun purchased in Lorton, VA, and later took an AR-15 and handgun from one or more of his victims.  It has also been reported that he was a federal contractor, and that he had previous run-ins with the police. 

So, if he was a federal contractor, apparently he was not prosecuted on the previous charges, or at least not with a charge that barred him from legally purchasing a firearm or holding a federal job because contractors go through the same background checks that federal workers are required to undergo.  It would appear, based on what we know at this time, this is not an issue of gun laws being to lenient, but of a criminal justice system that once again let someone slip through the cracks that should have been stopped long ago (as far back as 2004), whether for violations of the law, or for other issues that have come to light after the shooting.

Hat tip to From the Barrel of a Gun.

@NPRNews Must Be Reading @TimKaine Talking Points

The NPR Web Site has an article titled  "Tale of the Tape: Ex-Governor's Duke it Out in Virginia" discussing the Virginia U.S. Senate race between former U.S. Senator and Governor George Allen and former Governor Tim Kaine.  It starts with a blurb about the race then gives a side by side comparison on the issues. Here is what they have for Tim Kaine on the issue of "Guns":

Supports gun owners rights. After the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, as governor he advocated gun limits including preventing felons and the mentally ill from purchasing weapons.

It should be noted they did at least list under "Dumb Move" that Kaine used taxpayer funds to send buses of gun ban advocates to the 2000 "Million Mom March."

Here is a look at Kaine's record on Second Amendment legislation while governor:

Kaine is no friend to gun owners.  While he signed some legislation supported by gun owners when he was governor, he twice vetoed legislation to allow carrying concealed handguns in restaurants like Applebees and Olive Garden that serve alcohol in addition to food.  He also vetoed legislation that would have allowed a person who may lawfully possess a firearm to carry a handgun in a private motor vehicle or boat if the handgun is locked in a container or compartment.  Both pieces of legislation were later signed into law by Governor McDonnell.

Kaine also vetoed legislation that would have allowed active duty service members of the United States Armed Forces or the Virginia National Guard to purchase more than one handgun within a 30-day period, legislation that would have required localities operating compensated confiscation schemes (so-called gun buy-backs) to sell by public auction, or sealed bids, to a person licensed as a dealer, any firearms acquired through the schemes.
 
Kaine vetoed legislation that made it clear that the training required to apply for a concealed handgun permit could be completed online or other electronic format.  Fortunately, the House and Senate overrode that veto.

This year, Kaine was quoted in RVA News saying this after the passage of handgun rationing:

I am very disappointed in the General Assembly’s actions toward repeal of one of Gov. Doug Wilder’s signature achievements,” said Tim Kaine, another previous governor. Kaine is now the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate.

“I strongly urge Gov. McDonnell to veto this legislation and urge all of Virginia’s leaders in Richmond to renew their commitment to a focus on jobs and the economy,” Kaine said.
McDonnell has indicated that he would sign the repeal measure.

NPR should look beyond what a candidate puts on his website and look at his record when detailing where they stand an issue.

NPR Says US Gun Laws to Blame for Mexican Smugglers

It only took National Public Radio two lines in this story to let the reporter's bias show.

For years, Mexican drug traffickers have used gun stores and gun shows in the U.S. as their weapons supermarkets. The world's most murderous drug mafias operate on a border with a country that has the most permissive gun laws in the developed world.

And, not surprisingly, they recite the often debunked "90%" of illegal guns in Mexico originated in the U.S. garbage. Crediting a Government Accountability Office report doesn't make the false statistic accurate. David Codrea did a good job of taking apart the GAO study shortly after it was released.

The reporter hits all of the Brady Campaign talking points:

Relaxed reporting requirements for arms purchases make it difficult for his agents. For instance, if you buy two handguns within five days, the dealer must report it to the ATF. But you can buy all the rifles you want, and the dealer doesn't have to report it.

Ammo is not just untraceable, ... it's virtually unregulated.

Mexico has asked the U.S. not just to pursue gun traffickers on the border, but change the laws. But so far, the Obama administration has shown little interest in taking on the gun lobby.

Our tax dollars pay for this one sided reporting. Local NPR affiliates from time to time do some good shows on the issue of gun rights - offering debates between pro and anti-rights representatives. But this story is nothing but propaganda for the anti-rights crowd.

Hat tip to Alphecca.