Congratulations to Barack Obama for being named Smith & Wesson Gun and Ammunition Salesman of the Year - five years running! Maybe he will win a free trip that he can enjoy among his vacations, golf and fundraisers.
Obama sides with Michael Brown and sends three administration officials to Brown's funeral (though he sent none to Margaret Thatcher's), and he sells even more guns. Al Sharpton calls looters "liberators," -- "cha-ching" for gun sales again. Fine work!
With the help of a compliant media and the entertainment business, which makes the violent video games and movies, Democrats took advantage of a recent tragedy -- where a young girl accidentally shot a gun instructor to death during a lesson -- to call for more gun control.
First, Obama, Hollywood personalities and mainstream liberal media offices all are protected by gun-toting security personnel. They are safe precisely because their guards have guns. Second, if more laws and gun control really worked, Obama could just outlaw all shootings of people. Chicago and Washington, D.C., have strong gun control laws, yet are plagued with violence.
In fact, the racial tone that permeates Obama's rhetoric and his administration has led to most of the lead being sold for guns across this country. We live in an increasingly divided country since Obama was elected. Half of America wants to be protected by Obama, and the other half wants to be protected from him.
Obama's actions align him with other famous world leaders who forced gun control on their people: Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Fidel Castro, Josef Stalin, Mao Zedong, Idi Amin, Pol Pot, Kim Jong Il, Moammar Gadhafi and Hugo Chavez. No leader can have absolute power until he makes sure he is the only one armed.
The aforementioned leaders would have opposed the Second Amendment. Here are some who were for it: Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, John Adams, Ben Franklin and Ronald Reagan. With whom would you side?
As I pointed out last year, according to Dr. Alan Bates, "Murder rates nationwide have dropped 52 percent over the past 20 years, and violent crimes have declined for the past 18 of 20 years, by 49 percent to a 41-year low (FBI statistics), synchronous with 41 states adopting 'right to carry' laws." Murder rates are less than half (4.7 per 100,000) of what they were in 1993. Guns help.
When about 10,000 murders a year are committed with guns, the Journal of Quantitative Criminology (I think it was the May swimsuit issue) reported that, using data from a 2000 study, U.S. civilians used guns to defend themselves and others from crimes at least 989,883 times per year.
Recently, in Atlanta, a stripper was followed home by two guys. When they started to attack her, she pulled a gun. They ran. So, why don't these stories make headlines? Because they don't fit the left's narrative on guns.
A balanced study on guns -- not produced by the hysterics on either side of the issue -- could dispel some of the myths around gun ownership. Only 323 deaths last year were caused by assault weapons, while 496 Americans were killed with hammers and 650 with knives. Some 12,000 were killed by drunken drivers.
Millions of Americans are dying from obesity-related causes. Perhaps we need a one-week waiting period to buy a Twinkie. Or should we confiscate all forks?
We really need to move slowly, within the bounds of sensibility, on this issue. Republicans and Democrats are entrenched in their dogma. Perhaps Republicans should propose a bill that really puts Democrats in a tough spot -- one that forbids a gun from marrying another gun. What a dilemma for both sides.
Contact Ron Hart at Ron@RonaldHart.com.