Alphecca

Weekly Check on the Bias

Welcome to the February 15th edition of The Weekly Check on the Bias.

When the now extinct (national) "assault weapons" ban was created, it's purpose was to convince that part of the US public that feared firearms that lawmakers "feel their pain" (this was during the Clinton years) and were taking meaningful steps to protect them. What they actually did was to draw-up an arbitrary list of guns they considered scary looking. The models banned had features such as collapsible stocks or a handgun style grip; cosmetic features that had little to do with the operation of the gun.

In fact, all semi-automatic rifles operate in pretty much the same fashion. You pull the trigger and one bullet comes out. Then, the gun chambers another round. You pull the trigger AGAIN and that bullet comes out. And so on. Therefore, it could well be reasoned that ALL semi-automatic rifles are "assault weapons" since they all do the same thing. That being the case, if Congress had really wanted to be consistant and protective, all of these rifles should have been banned including almost every garden-variety hunting rifle.

But they didn't. They focused on a few cosmetic attributes and designated a new category of firearm called the "assault weapon". Under such specious argument, NO rifle is an "assault weapon" since their list was completely arbitrary. All cars operate with combustion engines. Just because some have speedometers that go up to 140MPH doesn't make them any more dangerous then your average Honda Civic. It's all in how it's used. If a drunk gets behind the wheel... And we already have laws to deal with such a situation.

In the past, I've argued that any firearm that is used for evil purpose is assaultive. Many years ago a nut-case in Salt Lake City murdered several people with a common Sturm Ruger .22 caliber handgun. So -- in that instance -- that favorite of target shooters around the world was an "assault weapon" but not because of how it operates but instead because of how it was operated. A knife is frequently an "assault knife". And when a crime is being committed, a car becomes an "assault automobile". When mutants broke into a Florida home and beat several people to death with aluminum baseball bats, Congress didn't pass the "assault Louisville Slugger" act.

A couple of days ago I posted about a woman charged with assault for injuring a man with a frozen pork chop. We all had some fun with that but the point is more serious. When the average gun-fearing person hears a reporter say "assault weapon" then suddenly some scary image comes to their mind. Reporters know this and love to use the phrase since it draws readers. The problem is that it focuses attention away from the criminal and onto the object used to commit the crime. When Bernie Goetz used a .38 to defend himself on a subway in NYC way back when, the media didn't focus on what kind of screwdriver the mutants were attacking him with.

Generating all this blather on my part is the story from this past Sunday of a mutant who entered a shopping mall about an hour south of Albany, NY and opened fire with a rifle. See the previous post for the early details. As I said then, fortunately only one person was seriously injured. I feel very bad for him. But this incident could have been MUCH worse. The lone gunman apparently wasn't actually trying to kill people. Imagine if he had been? It could also have been much worse for those of us who defend the Second Amendment because thanks to one police spokesman who described the weapon used (a Hesse Model 47) as an "assault weapon". Needless to say, almost every single early media story quoted him with glee. Ahah! they thought, another reason why we NEED that "assault weapons ban" back on the books! Here's the official police photo of the rifle:

Here's a typical AP reprint account of the incident from the Houston Chronicle:

A man who opened fire in a crowded shopping mall with an assault weapon, wounding two, seemed to have a "lurid fascination" with the Columbine High School shooting, a prosecutor said today.

Robert Bonelli, 24, is accused of wounding two people and sending shoppers scurrying for safety Sunday after shooting his way into the Hudson Valley Mall, then giving up when he ran out of ammunition.

Well of course it was an "assault weapon" since he was assaulting people with it. What if it had been a knife? He could easily have done just as much damage with one.

Some newspapers aren't content to leave it at "assault weapon" and escalate the hysteria to:

A lone gunman armed with a high-powered assault rifle went on a shooting rampage Sunday at a busy shopping mall, wounding two men before casting the weapon aside and surrendering to mall employees, police said.

Now it's "high-powered". Remember how a few weeks ago I wrote about how reporters write details of their stories in descending order? A simple search reveals that almost all of these newspaper writers consider what he used (an "assault weapon") more important then him or his crime. They WANT so-called "assault weapons" back in focus and you can bet that editorials will shortly appear blaming President Bush for somehow allowing the AWB to sunset.

Think I'm joking? Last September I predicted that one of the guns on the AWB "list" would eventually be used in a crime and the hysteria would start. It has. From the Times Herald-Record:

Anybody could have bought that gun.

It's not illegal to buy it or to own it.

Authorities say Robert Bonelli Jr. bought the Soviet AK-47 knockoff about four months ago at a gun show somewhere in the area.

Typically, he would have spent between $250 and $275 for it.

That's cheap, experts say.

Police say Bonelli used a Hesse Model 47 semiautomatic rifle to terrorize patrons Sunday at the Hudson Valley Mall.

Sources said Bonelli, 24, from Glasco, bought the gun in October, a month after a federal 10-year ban on assault weapons expired.
[...]
A background check was done at the time the gun was purchased from a dealer at the gun show, federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms officials said. ATF officials are assisting in the investigation.

Bonelli didn't have a gun permit, Ulster police said. But Tony Tantillo, former owner of a Lloyd gun shop, said a permit isn't needed to own such a weapon.
[...]
In the wake of the rampage at the mall, Sen. Chuck Schumer called for federal legislators to revisit a ban on assault weapons, which expired in September.

"(Sunday's) horrific shooting is the latest example of a military-style assault weapon being used to shoot large numbers of people," said Schumer, D-N.Y. "And we need to renew the assault weapons ban so that (Sunday) doesn't repeat itself over and over again."

The 10-year ban on certain assault weapons would not have made it illegal to buy the gun that police say Bonelli used, ATF Assistant Special Agent Delano Reid said yesterday.

The ban, did, however, make it illegal to buy magazines containing more than 10 rounds.

Reid would not comment on when Bonelli might have bought the ammunition. But since the ban expired, 30-round clips can be purchased legally.

You knew it. You just KNEW Schumer would jump into this and parrot the prattle of the anti-Bill of Rights crowd. The gun wasn't illegal even during the AWB. Schumer doesn't care. It isn't the crime, it's the gun used in the crime. At the beginning of this screed I said that it was thankful that more weren't injured or worse, killed. But political hacks such as Schumer want to capitalize on the evil of the gun, not the crime. That is how he activates his liberal-elite base (as in money funding).

And speaking of fund-raising, here's how the Brady Bunch responded:

Where did he get the gun? Wherever he wanted to. On the same day he walked into the Best Buy store at the Hudson Valley Mall, gun sellers across America were offering weapons so powerful and advanced that they have been the subject of recent global security complaints by the United States government.

The same day Bonelli shot two shoppers in New York, arms merchants at a gun show just outside Washington, D.C. offered for sale not only AK-47s and other clones like the Hesse Arms Model 47 Bonelli brandished, but also 50-caliber sniper rifles, capable of penetrating an airliner or a nuclear reactor from half a mile away and costing $25,000. Michael Barnes, the President of the Brady Campaign, attended "The Nation's Gun Show" at the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly, Virginia and inspected the 50-caliber rifle. Barnes noted that not only were many AK-47s and Ak-47 copycat weapons for sale, but also conversion kits to allow the guns to operate as machine guns.

The hysteria builds! And again, the focus is on the gun, not the crime or the criminal. A kid drowns in a swimming pool, well obviously it's the fault of the water and the diving-board, not the kid or his parents. A drunk slams into a van filled with people; their deaths and injuries are the fault of the automaker, not the drunk driver. And so it goes...

What is interesting is that when a firearm is used to save life, suddenly the media could care less what type of gun it is. From Delaware Online:

A burglary suspect, already wanted on drug and weapons charges, was shot in the face while trying to stab a Smyrna-area resident and his neighbor, police said Monday.

The incident occurred about 11:30 p.m. Sunday outside a house on Cathleen Drive in Burtonwood Village, south of Smyrna.

A 58-year-old man saw a stranger inside the shed next door and armed himself with a .38-caliber revolver before going to alert his neighbor, said state police spokesman Cpl. Jeff Oldham.
[...]
As the suspect lunged toward the men, the resident tried to close the shed door to protect himself, but caught the suspect in the doorway, Oldham said.

With his upper body outside the door, the intruder kept jabbing the knife at the men, Oldham said. They told the man repeatedly to drop the knife, but he kept trying to stab them, Oldham said.

The neighbor then fired his gun once, hitting the intruder in the face, Oldham said. The resident and neighbor both stayed with the suspect until state police and medical personnel arrived, he said. They were not injured.

Well what brand was the .38? What was the barrel length? Could it be bought at a gun show? And what kind of knife did the mutant wield? Length of blade? Carbon or stainless steel? Suddenly, these facts seem unimportant when a gun is used in defense of life. A typical and frequent story like this doesn't further the careers of hacks like Chucky Schumer or enhance the fund-raising abilities of the Brady Bunch. Yet these are the far more common incidents involving firearms. But they're not being used to "assault".

Here's some of what's happening in the blogosphere:

In keeping with the theme of today's Weekly Report, Zendo Deb at TFS Magnum reports on the criminal use of assault bats, 2x4's, etc. We need SPF Control NOW!

The Fuz at WeckUpToThees! is offering his impressive credentials as a candidate to the NRA Board of Directors. He's got my vote!

Kevin at The Smallest Minority has an interesting essay on the politics and philosophy of gun-fear. I'd like to think that I try to dispell some of that here, myself...

Geoffrey at Dog Snot Diaries reports on one way (besides banning guns) to cut down on suicides as suggested by the SAF. Heh!

Naturally, the tireless Say Uncle has some gun porn up.

And Kim du Toit has his top-ten list of why guns are better than women. Send those emails to...

Okay, it's ten o'clock and I better get this up. Just a reminder that there won't be a Weekly Report next Tuesday as I have meetings at work... Thanks for stopping by!

Posted by Jeff Soyer at February 15, 2005 10:04 AM