Bars & guns: Gun haters lose again
Once again, hysterical predictions of death and mayhem have bitten the dust after the expansion of concealed carry legislation. When are the anti-gun nuts going to stop trying to curtail Americans’ freedoms through fearmongering?Bingo. See, NH gets it. There are several points to be made here. First off, imagine if the exact opposite had happened. Imagine if violent crimes had increased 5.2% after the law took effect. Think we'd be seeing the same calm, measured response from the media*? Or is it more likely that every major newspaper in the country would run some version of "Wild West Redux: Blood in the street in VA!!!!11111ZOMG"? I think we all know the answer to that one...
The Richmond Times-Dispatch of Richmond, Va., reported on Sunday a finding that should surprise no one. But it stunned the gun haters. People carrying concealed weapons into bars and restaurants don’t suddenly transform into bloodthirsty killers, it turns out.
Secondly, there's a ridiculous amount of irony in the comments. Folks are wringing their hands about how "ZOMG EVIL GUNZ & ALCOHOL DON'T MIX!!!!" - when it is perfectly legal to carry in a bar in New Hampshire. The next time these addled mushbrains are knocking back their fourth Zima shooter at Chili's, they could very well be standing next to a dude carrying a J-frame in his pocket. They'll never know...
There's also a good number of folks pulling the "it's only one year" or "it's a statistical anomaly" card. Yeah. Because the anti-freedom side is ever-so-careful about presenting scientifically and statistically valid documentation, right? I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the peals of riotous laughter coming from the pro-freedom side on that one. Look. Drop the intellectual dishonesty. We all know that had the incidents increased it'd be front page news for weeks. Stop pretending it isn't significant.
And lastly, even if the drop in crime *is* just a statistical anomaly; even if allowing guns in bars has absolutely zero effect on crime and violence, isn't the fact that it *didn't* skyrocket once legalized of interest? I mean, to those that really, honestly, truly care about things like facts and truth of course. We know the anti-freedom side doesn't really care about gun violence except as a means of pushing more gun control.
Heavy emphasis on the "control" part there.
That is all.
*HEAVY sarcasm here
5 comments:
These are the people who, when presented with the statistics showing that the 1994 Crime Bill did jack shit for the overall crime rate, responded along the lines of "Well, we FEEL that it had an effect." (That was Janet Reno, by the way.)
Remember, gun control is a no-lose scenario to them. You pass a law, and gun crime goes down: that proves the law is effective. You pass a law, and gun crime goes up: that proves that the law was necessary, and that STRICTER laws are needed.
There was an editorial in our local bird cage liner last week that went on about how one year isn't long enough to draw a valid conclusion. The very first comment, and several others, admitted that they were correct, but then pointed out how the editorial board would be using the same amount of increase over the same time frame to scream for the law to be changed back.
Oddly enough, the member of the editorial board who responded to some of these comments never denied the allegation. Make of that what you will.
Open carry was legal before this so it's not all that big a difference.
Well, except that cops weren't called to bars and restaurants by pants wetting tools nearly so much.
The Virginia Civil Defense League (VCDL) is big on organizing open carry events.
Did run into a guy in a bar with a concealed gun once. We were gonna drag him out back and beat him up after he decided to grab my friend's wife under her skirt when she ignored his dumb pickup lines. He friends kept saying "Don't start this, it isn't going to be just physical". So we just left without beating him up. Glad we did.
Later on we heard from the bouncer that when they kicked him out he had a gun on him. He had a permit, in Georgia, where he claimed his father was a cop. Lost his guns and permit, as he should have.
...but... but... but... of COURSE it's Dangerous to permit firearms in bars! Of COURSE permitting that will lead to an Increase in Violence! It Just Makes Sense!!
(Well, no, actually. The universe, pretty much by definition, always follows the rules. If something doesn't work out the way you expect -- say, if more guns paradoxically DO result in less crime -- then perhaps it's your definition of "paradox" that was wrong.)
Apropos of nothing in particular, Mrs. Instapundit had a bit today about gun owners: "what are they compensating for" (nudge nudge, wink wink). Check it out; the comments are hilarious. (She also links to a classic case of anti-gun utter cluelessness... at the Daily Kos, natch.)
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