If You Can't Sell Gun Control As Gun Control - Just Call It Gun Safety

50 Million Buys A Lot of Lipstick
But A Pig By Any Name Is Still
A Pig!

Would you by a product sold by a company that continually changed it's name and the reason you should buy the product?  What if you found out that their sales tactics were highly deceptive?

Such is the case with many gun control advocates, and with former NYC Mayor Bloomberg in particular.  Picking up where groups like the "National Coalition to Ban Handguns" left off, he first established  "Mayors Against Illegal Guns".  After a largely unproductive 2013, in which the Colorado lawmakers who served as his agents were quickly recalled, and in which the organization lost many of it's mayor members when they figured out the organization was really about making guns illegal - not going after criminals and crime guns - Mayor Bloomberg decided that it was time for a change.

He first started "Mom's Demand Action" - that's right, a male billionaire decided to start an "Astroturf" women's group.  However, in spite of all his money, the organization has struggled to get going.  Perhaps the fact that gun ownership is quickly rising among women has something to do with the slow start.......

Now he has started another phony "grass roots" organization: Every Town For Gun Safety.  Now, what could possibly be wrong with a group with "gun safety" in it's name?  Actually, quite a bit if the real goal is not to promote the safe use and storage of firearms - but instead to make it as hard as possible to own a firearm.

Those of us who live in California know all about this.  Twenty plus years ago, we were sold a bill of goods labeled the "Safe Handgun List".  Now our anti-gun rights attorney general is using that law, with a few amendments, to basically ban all semi-auto handguns from the state. 

The common thread is that when public opinion is against gun bans and against gun control, they will listen and maybe even support many of the same measures if you call them "gun safety" laws.  After all who could possibly oppose gun safety?

Of course, it's still the same organization - following links to the Mayors Against Illegal Guns website results in a redirect to the Every Town for Gun Safety site.  It's also the same tactics.  They kicked things off with this disgusting video:

In addition to showing horribly unsafe behavior by children (which other kids may imitate), it tries to create the impression that there is a crisis with huge numbers of children finding improperly stored firearms and killing each other with them.  Of course, this is a complete lie.

First, we have to gain some perspective.  Just how common are firearms accidents among children?  How does the risk from firearms compare to other risks?

So, are firearms a common way children are accidentally killed?  Thank God, the answer to that question is NO.

Are firearms accidents involving children under 14 on the rise, or are they falling?  Answer: They are dropping like a rock.

From the National Safety Council: "Unintentional firearms deaths also declined in 2007 for the second year in a row, falling to a new record low."   Nationwide, the annual number of fatal firearm accidents among children has decreased 89% since 1975.  The rate of fatal accidents involving children is less than TWO PER ONE MILLION HOUSEHOLDS in which both firearms and children are present. 1

In the United States since 1930: The population has more than DOUBLED - the number of privately owned firearms has more than QUINTUPLED - and the annual number of accidental firearms deaths has DECREASED 80%  The fatal firearm accident rate has fallen to a new all-time LOW — down 94% since the all-time high recorded in 1904.

"But I heard that the firearms death rate among children was much, much higher."  I am sure you did.  Gun control groups boost their figures by including people up to age 18 and in one case, age 25 in their "child gun death" figures.  They also include homicides, suicides and even young gang-bangers shot by each other or cops in their totals.  Of course, Bloomberg's organization recently got caught including one of the Boston bombers as a "victim of gun violence" - he was shot by police.

These facts that can be confirmed by consulting sources like the National Safety Council, the ATF and the Department of Justice.  WHILE ONE ACCIDENTAL DEATH IS ONE TOO MANY, THERE IS NO GUN SAFETY CRISIS - FATAL GUN ACCIDENTS HAVE DROPPED DRAMATICALLY IN RECENT YEARS.  Bloomberg is attempting to deceive you.


The next question is: What happened to cause this amazing increase in gun safety?  The answer is simple: The NRA happened.

Yep, the NRA has been working hard on the gun safety issue for decades - long before there was a national gun law debate.  Their thousands of instructors and safety officers (of which I am one) work hard to teach gun safety.  The NRA's rules (insert link) are used in every hunter safety course and by every police force.  They are distributed with every firearm sold in the US.  They are even used as the basis for the safety test the State of California requires me to pass before I am allowed to legally buy a gun.  Even honest critics of the NRA's stand on gun laws - be they to the right or the left of the organization - will concede that the NRA has done an outstanding job of promoting gun safety.

So, what does the NRA have to say about gun storage?

"Store guns so they are not accessible to unauthorized persons."

"Many factors must be considered when deciding where and how to store guns. A person's particular situation will be a major part of the consideration. Dozens of gun storage devices, as well as locking devices that attach directly to the gun, are available. However, mechanical locking devices, like the mechanical safeties built into guns, can fail and should not be used as a substitute for safe gun handling and the observance of all gun safety rules."

Does sound like the NRA is in favor of leaving loaded guns laying around where kids can find them?  Of course not!  The NRA promotes safe storage of firearms - and has done so for decades.


More than this, since 1988, the NRA has run a program that teaches kids what to do if they DO run across an improperly secured firearm.  The Eddie Eagle program has taught 18 million kids four simple things to do if they find a gun:  STOP!  Don't Touch.  Leave the Area.  Tell an Adult.

Check out this video:

This program does not promote firearms or teach anything about their use.  It is 100% dedicated to decreasing the chance that a child finding an improperly stored or abandoned firearm will hurt themselves or others with it.  It has been adopted by hundreds of school districts across the country.

So, who in the world could be opposed to this?

Gun control groups, of course!  Such as the Brady organization and Violence Policy Center - both of which have spoken out against it.  Now, these very same people - funded by Bloomberg - are trying to sell unconstitutional gun control laws by calling them "gun safety" laws.

Why are they doing this?  Well, first (in the 1970-80s) they were really honest about their goals.  They wanted to ban guns and said so up front.  They lost that argument in both the Supreme Court and the court of public opinion.  Then they presented themselves as gun "control" organizations (1990-2013) - while still working to ban guns.  When the public realized that none of the proposed measures would have stopped ANY of the 2012 shooting incidents, they wanted nothing to do with their gun bans.  So now they want you to believe that they are not a GUN BAN organization, they are not a GUN CONTROL organization, they are now simply a "GUN SAFETY" organization.

Excuse me if I don't believe them.  I have been watching these organizations for over 40 years and the most common characteristic among them is dishonesty.  It's too bad that 50 Million Dollars can fund so many lies.....

1 - Accidental child gun deaths computed as follows:  Number of gun owning households, according to polls = 39% (http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/01/09/Poll-Household-Gun-Ownership-On-Rise) This is likely under reported by at least 6-12%: (See http://blogs.wsj.com/numbersguy/guns-present-polling-conundrum-1223/) So let's assume an actual rate of 45% of households owning guns.

The number of households in 2007 was approximately 211,000,000.  In 2010, 28.3% of households had children.  Since these figures likely include children up to age 18, let's adjust them downward to compensate.  Thus we come up with an estimate that 22% of US households have children age 0-14 years.   So, our final figure for gun owning households with children under 14 is 20,889,000

So, in 2007, the fatal firearms accident rate among gun owning households is 40/20889000 or less than two fatalities per million gun owning households with children.

Additional sources:

National Safety Council http://www.nsc.org/Documents/Injury_Facts/Injury_Facts_2011_w.pdf

Fact sheet with sources:
http://www.shootata.com/portals/0/pdf/FIREARMS_ACCIDENTFACTS_USF2007.pdf

Gun control groups opposing the Eddie Eagle program:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-helmke/nras-eddie-eagle-doesnt-f_b_572285.html

http://www.vpc.org/studies/eddiecon.htm

Breaking News: Terrorists Attack Government Troops in Massachusetts

Dozens of deaths and hundreds of casualties reported on both sides as members of a so-called "civilian militia" attempt to keep illegal arms and ammunition.

BOSTON, April 19 -- National Guard units seeking to confiscate a cache of recently banned military-style assault weapons, and ammunition that were reportedly being held at a National Guard armory, were ambushed today by elements of a para-military extremist faction. 

Military and law enforcement sources estimate that 72 people were killed and more than 200 others were injured before government forces were compelled to withdraw.

Speaking after the clash, the Massachusetts Governor declared that the extremist faction, which was made up of local citizens, has links to a radical right-wing tax-protestors movement. The governor also blamed the extremists for recent incidents of vandalism directed against internal revenue offices.

The governor, who described the group's organizers as "criminals," issued an executive order authorizing the summary arrest of any individual who has interfered with the government's efforts to secure law and order or enforce the new gun-control laws and the military-style weapons ban.

The government raid on the extremist's arsenal followed refusal by the local citizenry to turn over recently outlawed military-style weapons after the governor had issued a ban on military-style assault weapons and ammunition earlier this week. This decision followed a meeting in early April between government and military leaders at which the governor authorized the forcible confiscation of illegal arms. One government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, pointed out that "none of these people would have been killed had the extremists obeyed the law and turned over their weapons voluntarily."

Government troops had initially succeeded in confiscating a large supply of
outlawed weapons and ammunition. However, troops attempting to seize a second cache of arms and ammunition in Lexington were met with resistance from the heavily-armed extremists who had been tipped off regarding the government's plans.

During a tense standoff in Lexington's town park, National Guard Colonel Francis Smith, commander of the government operation, ordered the armed group to surrender and return to their homes. The impasse was broken by a single shot, which was reportedly fired by one of the right-wing extremists. Eight civilians were killed in the ensuing exchange.

Ironically, some of the local citizenry blamed government forces rather than the extremists for the civilian deaths. Before order could be restored, numerous armed citizens from surrounding areas had descended upon the guard units. Colonel Smith, finding his forces overmatched by the armed mob, ordered a retreat. Smith said his forces will return with reinforcements.

Massachusetts Governor Thomas Gage has called upon all citizens to support the state/national joint task force in its effort to restore law and order. It is still the governors intention to disarm and prosecute those who have resisted the military-style arms ban and other 'sensible' restrictions.

The governor has also demanded the surrender of those responsible for planning and leading the attack against the government troops. The public is asked to immediately report directly to local authorities if they locate Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, or John Hancock. These men have been identified as "ringleaders" of the extremist faction and they remain at large. 


Adams, Hancock, and Revere are considered armed and extremely dangerous.

Political Persecution Could Never Happen Here, Right?

Imagine that you decide to exercise your civil rights and become politically active.  You decide to found an non-partisan organization dedicated to making sure that voter fraud does not affect our elections.  Who could possibly be opposed to that?  Who wouldn't be in favor of that?

Well, the answer those questions appears to be the Obama administration and the Democratic party.  Consider what happened to a woman from Texas who did just that:

First, the IRS gave her the "special conservative organization" treatment when she applied for non-profit status.  A decision was delayed for years while she was sent more and more questions.  Of course, this meant that her donations were much lower than they would have been if people could deduct them.  This, of course, meant that she was not able to do as much as she might have done to fight voter fraud.  Excuse me for thinking that this was to point all along.

Many groups got the same treatment but the Obama administration saved their best treatment for this poor woman (Ms. Engelbrecht) - who runs a small business, as a very small part of its' business, is involved in the firearms industry.  In addition to the IRS withholding a decision, the federal government did the following:

The FBI's domestic terrorism unit contacted her six times - supposedly because someone "they were watching" had attended the same Tea Party meetings that she attended.

The IRS audited her business - and when they could find nothing wrong there, they audited her personal returns.

OSHA conducted a surprise inspection and audit of her business.

The EPA showed up too, because "Someone called in a compliant".

"Congressman, I wish I had better answers,"
ATF Director B. Todd Jones

Perhaps most frightening of all, the ATF - which was in the news with its' "Fast and Furious" scandal - conducted two surprise inspections - something usually reserved for those suspected of illegal gun trafficking.

Number of times ANY of these agencies had ever contacted Ms. Engelbrecht or any of her associated companies before she established "True the vote" and applied for non-profit status? ZERO.

Of course, we are supposed to believe that all of this is a coincidence.  If it wasn't surely the mainstream media would be telling us how this is a massive abuse of executive power.  They would surely never hush up a story that could at best be a huge embarrassment to the Obama administration and at worst lead to his impeachment.  Or would they?

There is one more question that must be answered: Why is the Obama administration and the Democratic party so afraid of anything or anyone who wants to investigate or control voter fraud?  Why would they be in favor of it continuing - unless that is how they are winning elections?

References:

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/02/06/True-the-Vote-Founder-on-IRS-I-Was-Targeted-Because-of-My-Political-Beliefs

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2014/02/07/true-the-vote-president-catherine-engelbrecht-slams-irs-abuse-weaponizing-of-government-n1791240

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/crime/item/17955-the-irs-targeting-of-catherine-engelbrecht

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/atf-director-wish-i-had-better-answers-about-atf-agents-probing-tea-party?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Marketing&utm_term=Facebook&utm_content=Facebook&utm_campaign=ATFTeaParty

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/atf-director-wish-i-had-better-answers-about-atf-agents-probing-tea-party?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Marketing&utm_term=Facebook&utm_content=Facebook&utm_campaign=ATFTeaParty