In the wake of the Orlando terror attack–carried out by a gunman who ignored the Pulse Orlando’s gun-free designation–liberals are eagerly working to limit the Second Amendment rights of citizens throughout the country.
In so doing, they are pushing numerous gun controls that are not only theoretically troublesome but which have already been proven practical failures. Moreover, proponents of more gun control are glossing over facts and evidence that undermine claims about the AR-15 and other firearms, as well as facts and evidence regarding the manner in which guns are primarily used.
Here are the top stats liberals don’t want you to know:
- Background Checks Do Not Stop High Profile Attackers–Although gun grabbers relentlessly push background checks as the solution to stopping high profile attacks on innocent Americans, the facts are that background checks do not hinder high profile attackers in the least. Alleged Orlando attacker Omar Mateen passed a background check for his guns, as did UCLA gunman Mainak Sarkar and almost every high profile attacker in the past 10 years.
Breitbart New previously published a list of attackers and alleged attackers who passed background checks for their guns, and that list stands as evidence that background checks are no hindrance to evil persons dedicated to murder. The list includes: “Sayed Farook and Tashfeen Malik (San Bernardino), Noah Harpman (Colorado Springs), Chris Harper Mercer (Umpqua Community College), Vester Lee Flangan (Virgina), John Russell Houser (Lafayette), Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez (Chattanooga), Dylann Roof (Charleston), Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi (Garland), Jared and Amanda Miller (Las Vegas), Elliot Rodger (Santa Barabara), Ivan Lopez (Fort Hood 2014), Darion Marcus Aguilar (Maryland mall), Karl Halverson Pierson (Arapahoe High School), Paul Ciancia (LAX), Andrew John Engeldinger (Minneapolis), Aaron Alexis (DC Navy Yard), Tennis Melvin Maynard (West Virginia), Wade Michael Page (Sikh Temple), James Holmes (Aurora theater), Jared Loughner (Tucson), Nidal Hasan (Fort Hood 2009), Jiverly Wong (Binghamton), Seung-Hui Cho (Virginia Tech), Naveed Haq (Seattle), and Mark Barton (Atlanta).”
2. More People Killed With Clubs, Hammers Than Rifles–Amid the push for an “assault weapons” ban following the Sandy Hook attack, Breitbart News consulted FBI numbers for the years 2005-2011 and found that the number of murders by hammers and clubs constantly topped the number of murders by rifle. For example, In 2005 the number of murders committed with a rifle was 445, while the number of murders committed with hammers and clubs was 605. In 2006, the number of murders committed with a rifle was 438, while the number of murders committed with hammers and clubs was 618. In 2011, there was 323 murders committed with a rifle but 496 murders committed with hammers and clubs.
And it should be noted the rifles in view here include all kinds of rifles–bolt-actions, semiautomatic hunting rifles, semiautomatic target rifles, etc.–so the percentage of deaths in which a rifles like an AR-15 were used would be even smaller than the overall number quoted for the years above.
3.AR-15s Are Not “Automatic” Rifles–Although politicians like Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, celebrities like Seth MacFarlene, and too many media pundits to number have referred to the AR-15 as an “automatic” weapon during last few months, the fact remains that AR-15s are semiautomatic firearms. They shoot one round–and only one round–each time the trigger is pulled. This means an AR-15 shoots no faster than a Smith & Wesson M&P 9mm handgun, or a Glock or Sig Sauer .40 caliber handgun, or an H&K or Ruger .45 caliber handgun. Claims to the contrary are either based on ignorance or are part of a focused attempt to demonize the AR-15.
4. Guns Are Legally Used For Self-Defense Purposes Approximately 760,000 A Year–Staggering isn’t it? Especially when you consider the way the mainstream media covers gun crime after gun crime, giving the impression that guns are just bad things which bad people use to hurt good people. Yet Florida State University criminologist Gary Kleck has demonstrated that guns are used for defensive purposes approximately 760,000 a year in the United States.
Kleck first entered the public dialogue with these findings in 1993. He then refuted criticism of the findings in 1997, 1998, and 2001. Most recently — in February 2015 — Kleck reaffirmed that his findings have yet to be refuted by anyone who can present empirical evidence to the contrary.5.Gun-Free Zones Are Killing Fields–The Orlando terror attack to place in gun-free zone. Result? Approximately 50 dead. The attack in the Umpqua Community College gun-free zone (October 2015) left 9 dead, the attack on the gun-free Chattanooga military offices (July 2015) left five dead, the attack in Fort Hood’s gun-free zone (April 2014) left 3 dead, the earlier attack in Fort Hood’s gun-free zone (November 2009) killed 13, the attack in the gun-free DC Navy Yard (September 2013) killed 12, the attack on gun-free Sandy Hook Elementary (December 2012) killed 26, the attack in the gun-free Aurora movie theater (July 2012) killed 12, and the attack on the gun-free Virginia Tech campus (April 2007) killed 32. Think about it–Eight gun-free zones, 207 firearm-related deaths.
6. More Children Under 10 Killed By Fire, Drowning Than Accidental Gun Deaths—Breitbart News previously reported Centers for Disease Control and Prevention numbers for 2010. The figures were compiled by John Lott, they showed the number of children under the age of 10 unintentionally killed in fire-related deaths was over seven times higher than the number of children killed in unintentional gun-related deaths, and the number of children killed in unintentional drowning deaths was sixteen times higher than the number of children killed in unintentional gun-related deaths. The raw numbers were as follows: Number of children killed in unintentional fire-related deaths was 262, the number of unintentional drowning 609, the number of accidental gun-related deaths was 36.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.