A pair of recent events expose the folly of gun-free zones.
January 30, 2020
ITEM #1: There are few issues the left-wing media seems to understand less than guns. It’s an ignorance that leads so often to hysteria, embarrassingly wrong predictions — and above all, calls for misguided public policy.
Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Victor Joecks has a terrific piece out examining one of those ill-conceived policy ideas, the folly of “gun-free zones.” In his column, Joecks takes a look at a highly telling contrast provided by a pair of recent events.
Joecks focuses on the gun-rights rally held at the Virginia Capitol building, and notes the predictable media panic in the run-up to what turned out to be a quiet, peaceful event — despite all the hand-wringing and predictions of violence that simply must result from a gathering of so many firearms owners.
As Joecks notes:
“There were plenty of guns in Richmond on Monday but no violence. … I almost feel bad for gun grabbers and the media, but I repeat myself. It must be so confusing to have tens of thousands of guns in one place and no acts of violence. You could almost feel the tears of disappointment. ‘Pro-gun rally ends peacefully despite fears of extremist violence,’ one CNN chyron read.”
Of course, the lack of any violent incident is no coincidence. Not only are gun owners by and large peaceful, but those who are prone to commit violent acts are going to think twice about doing so if they know they’re surrounded by others who are well equipped to stop them. As Joecks puts it, “The mere presence of a gun doesn’t cause violence. As seen in Virginia, an abundance of firearms can prevent criminal activity.”
Now, contrast what happened in Virginia with a recent story from Las Vegas, which is illustrative of the flawed thinking behind gun-free zones:
“The Fashion Show mall’s code of conduct prohibits firearms. That didn’t stop an 18-year-old from bringing a handgun into the mall. He got in an argument and pulled out his weapon. He shot the person he was arguing with and two innocent bystanders. Fortunately, all of the victims are expected to survive.”
Joecks concludes: “Gun grabbers focus most of their efforts on restricting legal access to firearms and accessories. They should spend more time trying to stop those, such as the Fashion Show mall shooter, who ignore signs proclaiming some area is ‘gun free.’”
It’s an extremely valuable lesson, for those who are open-minded enough to be willing to learn it. Which of course means that the left’s gun-grabbing efforts are certain to continue apace.
ITEM #2: If there’s any doubt as to how much contempt the elitist left has for ordinary Americans, this should remove it.
That’s a link to a clip of Don Lemon and Rick Wilson in an “interview” on CNN, in which the pair, joined by Wajahat Ali, dismiss President Trump’s supporters as “rubes” who are ignorant when it comes to spelling, geography, reading and more.
Lemon seems to find the exchange so funny that he can’t even continue “moderating” his show.
Via RealClearPolitics, here’s a partial transcript of the conversation, in which Wilson and Ali adopt what they imagine to be the persona of those who support the President:
"You elitists with your geography and your maps and your spelling," Ali chimed in.
"Your math and your reading," Wilson continued.
"Yeah, your reading, your geography, knowing other countries, sipping your latte," Ali said.
"All those lines on the map," Wilson said.
"Only those elitists know where Ukraine is," Ali finished.
It’s this kind of smug arrogance that has ordinary Americans tuning out so much mainstream news coverage and rejecting the self-anointed ruling class, and it’s why the media continues to lose so much credibility.
Which means the funniest part of that video is that Lemon, Wilson and Ali apparently have no idea the joke’s on them.
ITEM #3: Former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director Tom Homan continues to thoroughly embarrass New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over her support for sanctuary policies for illegal immigrants.
Recently AOC gave a speech in which she encouraged people to tip others off if they see ICE in their communities, in order “to try to keep people safe,” and praised Democrat presidential candidate Bernie Sanders for being “committed to breaking up” ICE.
In a recent FOX News interview, Homan let her have it, noting:
“Last year, [ICE] arrested 127,000 criminals. Think about this for a minute — 2,000 of those were homicides, 12,000 of those were rapes, 45,000 assaults. ICE is keeping the community safe.”
He went on to rip AOC’s statements as “dangerous” and “incredibly stupid,” adding that: “She’s about as far from smart as anybody can possibly be.”
The entire exchange is well worth watching, which you can do here.
ITEM #4: According to Jonathan Turley, a new study of FEC reports by researchers Sean Stevens and Professor Mitchell Langbert “found that professors gave to Democrats over Republicans by a 95:1 ratio.”
Out of 2,301 political donations, “2,081 went to Democrats while just 22 went to Republicans.” Only nine professors gave to both parties.
And some people still wonder why university campuses today have become breeding grounds for speech controls and socialism?
ITEM #5: In an effort to protect female athletes from having to compete against male athletes who “identify” as women in Idaho, Breitbart News reports that:
“Republican State Representative Barbara Ehardt told a local news outlet that she will introduce a bill that requires individuals to compete in women’s sports based on their biological sex not their gender identity.”
Ehardt explained her reasoning behind the bill:
“Boys and men will not be able to take the place of girls and women in sports because it’s not fair. We cannot physically compete against boys and men. The inherent biological, scientific advantages that boys and men have over girls and women, even if they were to take hormones, even if they were to spend a couple of years on estrogen, that’s not going to replace the inherent biological advantages that boys and men have.”
Correct and completely sensible. But you can bet the politically correct social-justice warriors will throw a fit over this.
ITEM #6: Paul Bedard reports that a new Gallup poll shows that race relations in the country today under President Donald Trump “are far higher than they were under Barack Obama, the nation’s first black president.”
“White House officials have credited the rise in support (for Trump) from African-Americans and other minorities to the improved economy, historically low unemployment for blacks, Hispanics and women, and urban renewal programs.”
It turns out that when you get the policies right, and create an environment that’s conducive to greater opportunity, the benefits can be enjoyed by everyone … regardless of the color of their skin.
ITEM #7: While Congress has dictated that under-21 adults aren’t mature enough to decide whether or not to vape, Massachusetts is considering a bill to lower the minimum voting age at the local level to 16 years.
It’s simply amazing how the left insists on increasing the age at which we’re allowed to exercise our rights to 21 in so many cases — including owning a firearm — yet can believe that a person is mature enough to vote as young as 16.
NOTABLE QUOTES
“[CNN’s] Don Lemon, the dumbest man on television — with terrible ratings.” – President Donald Trump
“I’m appalled @BernieSanders implied that @ewarren would lie to get ahead! There’s no more than a 1/1,024th chance she would do that.” – Sen. Tom Cotton