By Dave Workman | Senior Editor
Gun control is definitely a central campaign issue for Democrat presidential candidates in 2020.
Democrats are definitely using gun control as a campaign issue this year, according to Reuters, which reported, “With more than 15,000 people killed by gun violence in the United States last year – not counting suicides – Democrats running for their party’s presidential nomination are pointing to inaction in Washington as evidence they should be chosen to run against Republican President Donald Trump.”
However, there may be a problem with the numbers According to the FBI Uniform Crime Report for 2018—the most recent year for which data is available—only 10,265 of the 14,123 total homicides involved firearms.
The number doesn’t square with Reuters or even with the data from Statista, which lists 15,198 homicides with no breakdown on the weapon used. Reuters advised TGM the number came from the Gun Violence Archive.
A check for data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided information only for 2017, when there were 19,393 homicides in the states, plus 116 slayings in the District of Columbia.
Reuters, like too many other news agencies, uses the term “gun violence” without explaining what that’s supposed to mean. In 2018, according to the FBI, there were 407 justifiable homicides by police using firearms, and another 298 racked up by armed private citizens using guns.
So, with a sea of conflicting data, Democrats are running on a gun control platform. And what are they saying, according to Reuters?
Joe Biden wants to renew the ban on so-called “assault weapons,” he supports a federal “gun buyback,” universal background checks and lifetime ban on gun ownership for anyone convicted of a “hate crime.” He also likes “smart gun” technology, which so far doesn’t exist in a 100-percent reliable form.
Sen. Bernie Sanders wants “universal background checks,” he supports “red flag” laws, an “assault weapons” ban and a ban on so-called “3-D printed guns.” He doesn’t like original capacity magazines, either.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants to ban “assault weapons” and raise the legal age for gun ownership to 18. She wants federal gun registration and licensing of gun owners.
Mayor Pete Buttigieg likes “universal background checks,” banning “assault weapons” and original capacity magazines, red flag laws, and he would ban “ghost guns” that do not have serial numbers.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar wants universal background checks, a bump stock ban, raise the minimum age for buying an “assault weapon” to 21 if she can’t ban them outright, prevent people with severe mental illness from buying guns, and establish a waiting period for handgun and “assault weapon” purchases.
Michael Bloomberg wants universal background checks, a ban on “assault weapons,” ban guns on school campuses, raise the age to legally purchase handguns and “assault weapons” to 21 and prohibit “high capacity magazines.”
Andrew Yang “supports creating a tax credit to incentivize upgrading guns to use technology, like biological indicators, to unlock the firearm,” according to Reuters. He would also ban “assault weapons” and “high capacity magazines.”
Tom Steyer wants waiting periods, “universal background checks,” bans on “assault weapons” bump stocks and “high capacity magazines,” and “he would work with states to establish “high standards” for those seeking permission to carry concealed weapons in public,” Reuters reported.
Translation: Eight Democrats all seem to think the right to keep and bear arms is a government-regulated privilege. And, according to grassroots activists and even nationally-recognized Second Amendment advocates, none of these measures would prevent a single violent crime because criminals and crazy people routinely ignore gun laws, so the only people affected by these proposals would be honest citizens who wouldn’t break the law in the first place.
