California Gun-Grabbers Are Scapegoating Lawful Gun Owners (Again)
As gun-controllers exploit a California mass shooting, even mainstream media are expressing skepticism.
In the wake of the recent shootout in Sacramento — now thought to be a gang battle involving at least five shooters — gun-control zealots are determined to take away the people’s rights and give them more of what doesn’t work.
California has more gun laws than any other, yet state lawmakers are still exploring new ways to disarm peaceable residents and leave them at the mercy of criminals. Meanwhile, President Biden has already taken advantage of the tragedy, calling on Congress to pass the same laws that didn’t stop the carnage in California.
Surprisingly, even the mainstream press, which tends to be favorable toward gun control, has shown skepticism.
It was reported on April 19 that “several bills” to further restrict guns in California have “gained momentum from recent mass shootings,” especially the April 3 Sacramento massacre. Predictably, many of these bills have no connection to that incident. Instead, they’re items from the wish list of anti-gun groups: enabling lawsuits against gun manufacturers, further burdening lawful firearm dealers, restricting gun marketing, and “targeting ghost guns.” Less predictably, NPR, notorious for left-wing anti-gun bias, would question the value of passing more gun-control laws in California.
Following the Sacramento massacre, NPR reported on “at least 24 more bills” to restrict guns in California. The piece had a borderline-snarky headline that a gun-rights advocate could have written: “After the Sacramento shooting, the state with the most gun laws may soon get more.” In many ways, the piece itself was typical NPR. But it also contained flashes of realism.
“Even when states make it harder to get guns, gun violence still occurs all too often,” reporter Laurel Wamsley noted. “In a state that already has more gun restrictions than anywhere else in the U.S., how much further can the law go?” As Wamsley pointed out, the violence-plagued state already gets Giffords’s highest rating for gun control.
NPR wasn’t alone in raising questions. Amazingly, the Trace — an outlet dedicated to gun-control advocacy — seemed skeptical about the California push. Its April 4 Daily Bulletin was headlined by the Sacramento shooting. It concluded, as the bulletin often does, with a statistic: “107 — the number of gun control laws on the books in California, more than any other state.” The same day, the Trace reported that the Sacramento shooting “likely involved” an already-illegal gun modification.
An even clearer note of skepticism came from Politico, reporting on President Biden’s reaction to the Sacramento shootout.
In his gun-grabbing response — basically a rehash of old material — Biden called on Congress to “ban ghost guns,” “require background checks for all gun sales,” “ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines,” and “repeal gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability.”
Here, Biden was making a transparent attempt to take advantage of a tragedy to push his own agenda. None of the steps he proposed would have stopped the Sacramento shooting; indeed, several of them had already been taken by California before the shooting occurred.
Politico, which is not exactly known for having a conservative bent, saw fit to say as much. After listing Biden’s proposed responses to the violence in Sacramento, Politico’s California Playbook newsletter noted that the state “far outstrips any other state” in gun-control restrictions and “already bans assault weapons, high-capacity magazines and requires background checks for sales.”
Different factors could explain these unusual moments of honesty from the media.
Ahead of the midterm elections, it could be that the mainstream Left is eager to adopt a “moderate” image, and is thus making a tactical retreat from increasingly unpopular gun-control proposals that cause discomfort even among Democrats.
It could also be that some reporters are just getting tired of the way in which mass shootings are constantly and predictably politicized. Even gun-control supporters might get sick of repeating the same calls to action, by the same politicians, over and over again.
Whatever the reason, it’s good to see a bit of common sense cut through the mainstream media’s echo chamber. More gun control won’t save California from a crisis that has seen residents flee the state and Los Angeles be compared to a horror film.
Of course, recognizing as much is not enough. Californians, and all Americans, need to hear the full truth: Gun control isn’t just ineffective, it’s deeply immoral. Armed self-defense is a natural right, not a government-granted privilege. Gun control disarms peaceable citizens and doesn’t stop criminals. And the most important thing government can do for our safety is to stay out of the way of our right to self-defense.
You won’t hear those truths from NPR or Politico. But we the people will continue to make ourselves heard.