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House Dems passed a bill on Wednesday in response to cries to “do something” about mass shootings. What they’ve done instead is to pass a bill which has no chance in the Senate, but made for good theater.
After praising actor Matthew McConaughey’s pleas to stop the political gamesmanship, the Dems did just that anyway. They trotted out survivors of the Uvalde school massacre, goading Republicans with emotional testimony. And you can’t get more heart-rending than the account of a ten-year-old Uvalde survivor who lived through the ordeal. The fourth grader, testifying on pre-recorded video, told how she covered herself with blood and pretended to be dead:
“He shot my friend that was next to me. And I thought he would come back to the room.”
The parents of a girl killed in Uvalde made demands, and accused “some people” of caring more about guns than children:
“We seek a ban on assault rifles and high-capacity magazines.”
“We understand for some reason, to some people — to people with money, to people who fund political campaigns — that guns are more important than children. So at this moment, we ask for progress.”
Dems also brought out a mother whose son was wounded in the Buffalo massacre ten days before Uvalde:
“Let me paint a picture for you: My son Zaire has a hole in the right side of his neck, two on his back and another on his left leg, caused by an exploding bullet from an AR-15. I want you to picture that exact scenario for one of your children. This should not be your story or mine.”
The testimony in the House chambers was raw, just as Democrats hoped it would be. Some voices defending gun rights were also heard, but they paled in comparison with wrenching tales of carnage.
The gun control package, dubbed the “Protecting Our Kids Act,” passed the House in a 223-204 vote largely on party lines. One Republican didn’t vote, and five Republicans joined the Democrats, including Reps. Adam Kinzinger (IL), Anthony Gonzalez (OH), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), Chris Jacobs (NY.), and Fred Upton (MI). However, two Democrats voted agains the measure: Jared Golden (ME) and Kurt Schrader (OR).
The bill would raise the minimum age for buying a semi-automatic gun from 18 to 21; prevent sales of magazines over 15 rounds; and force serial numbers and background checks on “ghost guns.” The package would also ban bump stocks and demand better gun storage in homes with minors.
Oh, and the House Dems would also make it a felony to clean your gun without a firearms manufacturers’ license. Believe it or not, eight Republicans agreed.
This is the kind of thing that passes as "doing something." Making it a felony to clean your gun knowing that the law is completely unenforcable. But the feels. THE FEELS. https://t.co/XxJbyxEw89
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) June 8, 2022
The things that make you go, What?
Ridiculous proposals or not, the “Protecting Our Kids Act” has no chance of passing in the Senate. That’s because the Senate is evenly divided between the two parties, and the the bill would need 60 votes to pass due to the filibuster. Democrats know this, so they’re using this ill-fated bill to get some traction as they face disastrous midterm elections. In short, it’s pure political theater.
So much for Matthew McConaughey’s speech.
Other than convincing the gullible that this bill “does something,” in truth, it doesn’t. Reality doesn’t line up with the narrative pushed by progressives and the liberal media.
Facts are, indeed, stubborn things, and here are a few about “gun violence” and mass shootings:
Plus, where you live makes a difference. According to the Crime Prevention Research Center, over half of murders occur in just two percent of the nation’s counties. They’re also concentrated in certain neighborhoods within those counties as well; look at a crime map in Chicago, for example, and you can see the concentration of murders in the city.
Moreover, James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University who has studied mass shootings for decades, finds that there isn’t an “epidemic” of these events. And as far as school shootings go, the odds that a child will perish in one are 10 million to 1. That’s about the same odds as being struck by lightning or dying in an earthquake. When Fox sorts out the number of students killed in school shootings over the past decade, it works out to 10 per year — over a population of over 50 million students.
What is increasing, says Fox, is an epidemic of fear. House Democrats, however, along with their allies in the media, push the terror in order to gain political headway. Nor is it above them to shamelessly trot out terrified children and grieving parents in order to hype their anti-gun agenda.
But if this gun control package were to pass, it would not change crime one bit. Instead, it would just open the door for progressives to add increasingly onerous measures upon lawful gun owners until they get what they want: a total ban on all firearms, and the dismantling of the Second Amendment.
Featured image: Mitch Barrie/flickr/cropped/CC BY-SA 2.0.
Scott says: As terrible as I feel for these survivors and families, going through a tragedy like this does not suddenly make them all experts on guns. NO good decisions are made on emotion over fact.. ooh, and that fascist RINO KInzinger needs to sit down and shut up, he’s a disgrace.
Kim Hirsch says: That’s a very good point. The same tactic was used in the 9/11 hearings —- trotted out widows who knew nothing about intelligence or security as voices of credibility. But the FEELZ, man!
Scott says: Yep. that’s why the left always pushes these attacks on our God given rights immediately after something like this happens. They’re counting on emotion overriding logic, allowing them to further their agenda of a fascist state.
GWB says: It also doesn’t make you an expert on preventing future similar events.
NOR does it give you any moral authority over other people.
Iwoots says: “would also make it a felony to clean your gun without a firearms manufacturers’ license.”
Google did not help; so could someone explain this. Thank you in advance.
Kim Hirsch says: From the bill:
“The term ‘manufacturing firearms’ shall include ASSEMBLING A FUNCTIONAL FIREARM or molding, machining, or 3D printing a frame or receiver, and shall not include making or fitting special barrels, stocks, or trigger mechanisms to firearms.”
If you dissemble a gun to properly clean it, you must reassemble it.
SFC D says: I’m guessing it was intended to prevent the assembling of an AR-15 type rifle by purchasing parts instead of the entire rifle. Perfectly legal and a background check is still required to buy the serialized lower receiver. You can’t just buy parts and build a rifle LEGALLY without a check. However… an 80% lower receiver can be purchased without a check and is not serialized. Perfectly legal if you have the tools and knowledge to finish it. That’s the so-called “Ghost gun”. A homebuilt rifle is legal to build and own but it cannot be sold, given away, or transferred to another person. Yet another liberal law written by people that have zero knowledge of the subject.
GWB says: Nailed it.
Except that I’m not sure all of them have no knowledge of the subject. They simply prefer to use emotional rhetoric instead of facts because it gets them closer to their end goal.
GWB says: Emotional Testimony
And that is exactly the point. Use raw emotion to rile up the mob so they demand you do what you desire to do but can’t. It’s unseemly for a republic, but the progressives don’t care. And it’s dishonest. But… progressives.
GWB says: “He shot my friend that was next to me. And I thought he would come back to the room.”
Yes, honey, that was terrifying, I’m sure. Would you rather have had a hero there able to deal with this maniac or just hope we can prevent this ever happening anywhere in your life?
that guns are more important than children
No, we care about our guns BECAUSE we care about our children and yours. I carry so this sort of thing can NEVER happen where I am present.
caused by an exploding bullet from an AR-15
*pats the hysterical woman on the arm* No, dear, he didn’t use exploding bullets. He might have used hollowpoints which are designed to mushroom more efficiently on impact than round-nosed bullets. Yes, they are designed to cause more damage than lead round-nose. Of course, ginzu knifes are designed to more easily cut flesh, too. We going to ban sharp knives?
they paled in comparison with wrenching tales of carnage
As designed. Mobs are much easier to whip up (why we don’t live in a “democracy”, btw) with raw emotion than with facts and reason. And a mob is what the anti-gun folks want.
The bill would raise the minimum age for buying a semi-automatic gun from 18 to 21
I still don’t understand how on earth the age for purchasing firearms is a federal responsibility in the least.
But, even more importantly, how do you deny someone a Constitutional right above the age of 18 when that age is specifically defined in the 26th Amendment as the defining age for those rights via voting. The current handgun prohibition is un-constitutional, as well.
“ghost guns.”
There’s that emotionally-laden and reason-free phrase!
Can someone please point me to any statistics on just how many crimes committed with a firearm are ever solved by tracing the serial number of any weapon? The only possible situation in which it could even remotely be helpful is 1) tracing a straw buy/illegal arms supplier or 2) a murderer actually uses his own legally procured weapon and leaves it at the scene. That is IT! There is absolutely no other use for it.
over half of murders occur in just two percent of the nation’s counties
Best not state who might live in those counties, though! That would be racist!
(And that racial component is primarily because of Progressive policies that concentrate minorities where they can be wielded as a political weapon and keep them “down on the plantation.”)
Nor is it above them to shamelessly trot out terrified children and grieving parents in order to hype their anti-gun agenda.
It’s called “waving the bloody shirt” and is a classic Marxist tactic. OK, to be honest, it’s been the tactic of people whipping up a mob since long before Marx.
I really hate dealing with this. But just like cockroaches or ants in the house, it’s a never-ending battle, though you might gain respite once in a while.
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