Alphecca

Weekly Check on the Bias

Welcome to the July 5th edition of my Weekly Check on the Bias by media concerning firearms and the Second Amendment. Hopefully you all had a terrific and long holiday weekend.

Last week I had a well read post (thanks to InstaPundit, Kim du Toit, and others) that addressed the vote by the House of Representatives to repeal a few small parts of Washington DC's draconian gun laws. No, residents are still prohibited from buying and owning handguns (unless purchased before 1976) and concealed-carry is not yet an option in the city with one of the highest crime rates in the nation.

What they did vote to repeal was the part that says that if you do have a rifle or handgun (again, pre-1976 ownership) you no longer have to keep the gun in an unloaded, unlocked, disassembled (i.e. useless) state.

I'm not going to rehash all my arguments again (or maybe I will...) about why restoring the District's constitutional rights trumps "home rule" but instead will focus on one point concerning media bias. Sometimes all you have to do is read the lead (title) of the story to guess where the reporter comes down on the issue. The AP titled their story:

House Votes to Weaken D.C. Gun Control Law

And Reuters' header was:

House measure renews assault on D.C.'s gun ban law

How's that for "pre-loading" a news article with bias? Not a headline such as "DC Residents Regain Some Lost Rights" or "House Votes to Make DC Safer"...

Instead, they're "weakening" or "assaulting" gun control laws. The first paragraph of the Reuters "news service" story (and this wasn't an editorial, folks) read:

The U.S. House of Representatives dealt a blow to Washington, D.C.'s strict gun control law on Thursday when it passed an amendment that would effectively allow fully assembled rifles and pre-1976 handguns to be kept in city homes.

So they're dealing "blows" as well. *Sigh*

I'm sure you'll be astounded to learn that the measure didn't sit well with the Washington Post:

PARLIAMENTARIANS [who] gathered in Washington this holiday weekend from Europe and North America arrived just in time to witness the U.S. House of Representatives -- on the eve of the anniversary commemorating the signing of the Declaration of Independence -- trample upon the right of self-determination. Morphing themselves into city council members, a House majority overturned a city law and voted to allow D.C. residents to keep in their homes loaded shotguns and rifles, as well as handguns bought before 1976, unbounded by trigger locks or disassembled. The deed itself makes a mockery of Congress as a federal body. If the action is allowed to stand, however, the consequences could be even worse: The nation's capital will become a deadlier place in which to live.

Let me just ask (again) whether the 15th and 19th Amendments made a "mockery" of the voting laws in many states? Were laws banning discrimination against african-americans making a "mockery" of the Jim Crow laws and "self-determination" by various states?

Of course not! What we actually have is a set of gun control laws in The District that make a "mockery" of residents' 2nd Amendment rights and Congress is slowly working to correct that.

Note -- by the way -- the tired old chestnut that DC will be a "deadlier place...to live". The editorial writer didn't say "blood running in the streets" because, well, it already is. DC may have seen a slight drop in crime recently (and since it's only recently, obviously the 1976 ban had nothing to do with it) but the rate there is still FAR HIGHER than almost anywhere else.

The editorial continues:

The gun safety law that the House voted to repeal makes all the sense in the world. It enjoys the full backing of the city's mayor, council, police chief and, most important of all, the city's residents. Perhaps residents and their leaders want the law on the books because they know, even if the House does not, that properly locked or secured guns help prevent gun violence and accidental shootings...

But the current law goes much farther then simply securing the gun -- it requires it to be fully disassembled, rendering it useless for home defense. It's as if the District required all fire-extinguishers to be kept empty; what's the point?

The Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA) jumped into the fray:

Two prominent Virginia lawmakers are in the middle of a recurring and emotional congressional fight over repealing the District of Columbia's ban on handgun ownership.

Sen. George Allen, R-Va., a potential presidential candidate in 2008, and Rep. Thomas M. Davis III, R-11th, chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, are on opposite sides.

Allen recently joined with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, to introduce a bill that would repeal the District's handgun ban, which dates back to 1976.

When the bill was introduced in May, Allen said it was time to "give the law-abiding citizens of the capital their constitutional right to protect themselves again."

Davis, on the other hand, staked out at a hearing of his committee last week his vigorous opposition to a similar House bill.

"I personally believe that federal legislation seeking to overturn D.C.'s gun laws is an unnecessary and potentially dangerous assault on home rule," Davis warned. The Northern Virginia lawmaker took sides with District officials who view the proposed repeal as an intrusion on self-government.

"For our system of federalism and democracy to work, states and localities need to be able to make their own decisions -- even if some of us think they're bad ones," Davis said.

Really, Rep. Davis? Suddenly you're all for home rule? Okay, hypocrite, then how come you fought so hard to block the removal of Terry Schiavo's feeding tube by filing a flurry of subpoenas after the Florida courts had issued their rulings?

Rep. Thomas M. Davis III, a key player in House efforts to block the removal of Terry Schiavo's feeding tube yesterday, said he issued subpoenas to preserve evidence for a congressional investigation.

[...]

He issued subpoenas to Schiavo, her husband, hospice administrators and attending physicians to "preserve the nutrition and hydration for Terri Schiavo during the period of our inquiry." The panel planned to hold a "legislative inquiry" in Florida next Friday, he said.

"This will allow us to fully understand the procedures and practices that are currently keeping her alive," he said yesterday.

Later, her feeding tube was removed, and Davis' committee filed an emergency request at the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to have it reinserted while the committee files appeals.

Waxman contended the subpoenas "were issued unilaterally by Tom Davis, acting at the request of the Republican leadership. There was no vote and no opportunity to debate the issue in committee. The process was a perversion of democracy."

What a hypocrite!


Speaking of the Richmond Times-Dispatch, they also don't think much of state laws allowing legally permitted adults to carry concealed near or on schoolgrounds:

If you think guns don't have any place on or near school property, don't move to Utah.

A change in Virginia's law allows people with a concealed-weapons permit to carry loaded firearms when picking up students from school - as long as the guns are concealed and are kept inside vehicles.

But Utah's latest gun law goes further. It allows teachers, principals and anyone else with a concealed-weapons permit to carry weapons on school grounds. The guns can be loaded and are not restricted to vehicles.

First, the Virginia law. Why should a person legally allowed to arm himself have to disarm himself just because he stops to pick up his children at school? The law doesn't say that he/she can brandish the gun. He just doesn't have to go home first, lock up the firearm, and then head over to the school parking lot.

Needless to say, there are plenty of quotes:

Shonda Harris-Muhammed, a teacher at Richmond's Armstrong High School, said there is no way parents or anyone else should bring guns near a school.

Harris-Muhammed said she was livid upon hearing that Virginia's new law meant gun owners were no longer required to unload their guns before entering school property.

Mark Dozier, a teacher at Henrico County's Douglas Freeman High School, also opposes guns on school property.

"We should do as much as we can to keep loaded guns away from our schools," Dozier said. "Someone who lost their temper can put students and teachers in harm's way."

Um, Shonda? We're talking about driving through the parking lot, not walking through the halls pointing the gun at students.

To the writer's credit, there was one quote from a teacher who did not feel threatened.

Regarding Utah's law, the gun must still be concealed and considering the rare but highly publicized school shootings over the past few years, I know I would feel safer if some of the teachers or administraters were armed and could quickly bring "an event" to a close. It might not prevent an incident but it could save at least some of the lives.

Here's another quote:

Lear, who deals with law and legislation for the Utah Board of Education, said it is understood that school employees must keep their firearms concealed. She emphasized "must," and said employees are told that consequences for failure to conceal a weapon could be severe.

"If you ever show that gun," she said, "you may be putting your employment at risk."

It's like the fire-extinguisher: You hope you never need it -- and you probably won't -- but it's nice to know it's there.

Say, how's it going in gun-free Britain? From the Guardian:

One in ten teenage schoolboys in London has carried a gun in the last 12 months, often for reasons of self-defence, according to a leaked police report.

According to the Times, a study commissioned by the Metropolitan police revealed that fear is driving many youngsters in urban Britain to arm themselves with weapons from knives to real or replica guns.

Six percent of the 11 to 15-year-olds questioned said they had actually fired a real gun, 8% said they could easily get access to a handgun, and one in seven said they knew someone who had "brought a real or real-looking gun" into school.

Apart from showing the children's desire to protect themselves on city streets, the study also suggested that a new generation of armed criminals could be taking shape as children imitate adults in their communities by drifting into a gun-related lifestyle.

Let me see if I have this straight. No citizen in England is allowed to own a handgun. Lots of students in England have carried guns because they fear for their lives. Lots of kids have easy access to handguns. Authorities are worried that the children are imitating adults (who can't carry guns) by, uh, carrying firearms. Life is too short for me to spend time trying to unravel this pretzel.

Perhaps the kids are correct. The streets are obviously unsafe. Criminals haven't obeyed the law (there's a concept!) and are still carrying guns. Because the thugs KNOW that their intended victims are unarmed, they go about their mutant muggings and murder without fear of resistance. Children fear for their lives because the law-abiding adults in their lives are not allowed the means to protect them. So the kids have sought-out illegal weapons and have begun protecting themselves. How'm I doing?

Washington DC, Chicago, (and soon) San Francisco take note!

To end on a much lighter note, a New Jersey police department is selling a Tommy-Gun! From the Press of Atlantic City:

It turns out that unloading a classic Thompson machine gun takes a little more than stashing it in a violin case and putting it up for sale on eBay.

Nearly a year after the borough decided to sell the classic weapon - given to the borough police department in 1930 - plans are still under way to conduct an auction.

"We had to deal with some regulations from the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms," said Commissioner John Stroebele, who is handling the sale. "Basically we have to sell it to a licensed gun dealer with the proper certification to handle collectible weapons. So that means we have to do a little marketing to those dealers in New Jersey and also some surrounding states."

The machine gun is a 1921 model, one of the first mass-produced versions of the famed Tommy gun. Still, only about 15,000 were made.

"I have heard people say that it could be worth as much as $60,000 to $70,000." Stroebele said.

[...]

The gun came to the borough's police department in 1930 as a gift from one of the owners of the Thompson company to then-police Chief Richard DePamphilis. Though it has been in the borough's armory ever since, it has never been used in action.

The Thompson is one of the most famous American guns ever made. U.S. Army General John T. Thompson designed the two-handled metal gun with a 50-round drum during World War I. He teamed up with retired U.S. Naval Commander John N. Blish to develop an ultra-light automatic rifle. The 1921 version was a popular gun on fixed-wing attack planes.

Though many U.S. police departments used the gun, the Tommy is usually thought of as the weapon of choice for prohibition-era gangsters. To showcase the weapon, the borough is creating a brochure with pictures of the weapon taken from different angles to be sent to gun dealers.

Kind of ironic considering how difficult it is in some NJ towns to get a simple license to buy a revolver because the Chief of Police has the ultimate say on whether that license will be issued.

Well, I'll be on Cam's later today and until then, thanks for stopping by!

Posted by Jeff Soyer at July 5, 2005 09:36 AM