Deflating another gun control bogeyman.

Deflating Another Gun Control Bogeyman

There is a problem with the term “gun violence.” Not just the term itself, but the whole idea that firearm-related injuries and deaths are qualitatively different or special. Violence is violence regardless of the weapon or method used.

Gun violence is a handy bogeyman for gun control and other groups advancing similar agenda. By lumping homicides, suicides, and accidents together, gun grabbers of every stripe can use this family-sized phantasm to alarm the public. Even better, it can be used to make a variety of claims since the overwhelming percentage of Americans won’t check the underlying numbers.

Gun control addicts use this to confidently claim there is an “epidemic” of gun violence. In June 2024, Vivek Murthy, Joe Biden’s surgeon general, declared “firearm” violence was a public health crisis. Murthy went on to recommend the adoption of the gun-grabbers’ wish list despite the fact that none of those measures have been shown to be effective based on results reported by the U.S. government.

When most people hear the word “violence” they associate it with one individual deliberately using force to harm another individual, i.e. assault or murder. It’s also the type of violence most alarming to the public. Supporters of 2A restrictions focus their rhetoric and “remedies” on exploiting this fear.

But there is a problem with this: Far from being a looming threat, the U.S. homicide rate has been declining.

FBI statistics for the 65 years from 1960 to 2024 prove this. The decade from 2010 to 2019 had a lower average murder rate than any comparable period going back to the last year of Eisenhower’s term. In fact, the 2010-2019 average was 12% lower than in the previous decade.

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On the local scene

Judge dismisses charges against captain, 2 supervisors involved in deadly Ride the Ducks sinking in 2018

GALENA, Mo. (KY3) – A Stone County judge dismissed charges against the captain and two supervisors involved in the July 2018 deadly Ride the Ducks sinking.

Judge Johnnie Cox ruled there was no probable cause in the case against Captain Kenneth Scott McKee and two supervisors, Curtis Lanham and Charles Baltzell. The Missouri Attorney General’s Office refiled the charges in April 2022.

The Ride the Ducks’ Stretch Duck 7 with 31 people on board capsized and sank in stormy weather on Table Rock Lake. Seventeen passengers, including nine from the same family and one crew member driving the boat, drowned that night. It became one of the deadliest boating accidents in United States history.

Investigators say the Ride the Ducks crew had plenty of warnings about the severe weather, but the boat still launched more than 20 minutes after a thunderstorm warning was issued for Table Rock Lake. The duck boat sank under high waves while winds around the area reached up to 70 miles per hour that day.

Well, I guess that takes care of the trip to Timbuktu

Mali and Burkina Faso announce reciprocal travel ban on US citizens.

Mali and Burkina Faso have said they are imposing a travel ban on US citizens in response to an equivalent measure announced by the Trump administration earlier this month.

In separate statements issued by their foreign ministries late on Tuesday, the two West African countries said they were acting in the name of “reciprocity” after the White House announced on December 16 that President Trump was adding them and five other countries to a list of those subject to a full travel ban.

The White House said the expanded ban, set to take effect on January 1, applied to “countries with demonstrated, persistent, and severe deficiencies in screening, vetting, and information-sharing to protect the Nation from national security and public safety threats.”

The Trace Tries Desperately to Make ‘Gun Violence’ Numbers Look Bad

This year, we’ve seen a significant downturn in so-called gun violence. While some like to say we’re just rebounding from the pandemic spike, the truth is that this seems to be a bit more. It’s been a good year, all things considered, though maybe not enough to reach levels akin to other developed nations.

Then again, when you take guns out of the equation, we’re still more violent than those countries, so I’m not really going to expect that to change anytime soon.

At The Trace, though, they need to continue with their mission to champion gun control under the guise of journalism, and that means taking the truth and trying to make it sound so much worse than it actually is.

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Firearms Instructors Talk Changes Coming in 2026

Lee Williams –

Our country was much more troubled and dangerous when Joe Biden was president, but thankfully times have changed, according to several current and former firearm instructors.

“There was a lot more concern about how things were going to go,” said Mike Magowan, chief operations officer for Florida’s Self Defense Emporium. “There’s not as much panic now as there was then.”

Magowan has taught more than 30,000 students how to shoot safely over his 30-year career. He started as a sniper in the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division and has earned a host of national certifications and accreditations.

He and several other instructors discussed current trends and predicted what will happen in 2026.

Suppressors were a common topic, especially if they finally end up outside of federal purview and can be purchased easier. Everyone mentioned teaching a fully-suppressed class.

The largest national trend that’s occurring right now involves smaller 9mm full-capacity handguns specifically made for concealed carry. Everyone predicts their popularity will continue to grow throughout the new year

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Report: Transgender Who Attacked Nashville Christian School Bought Guns with Federal Grant Money

A report by the Tennessee Star appears to show that the transgender individual who killed six at Covenant Christian school on March 27, 2023, purchased her guns with federal grant money.
The Star points to pages from a journal the she allegedly kept during 2021.

Copies of the journal pages were released by the FBI Monday, and readers can see how the transgender shooter compared and contrasted certain aspects of various guns–including various sight configurations and accuracy.

After weighing different types of guns, the Star noted that the shooter, a woman who felt she was a man, referenced the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and numerous payments received from Nossi College when she was attending the Nossi College of Art and Design in Nashville.

At the top of one entry, the transgender shooter wrote, “FASFA [sic] grant checks started at $2,050.86.”

Below that she noted: “$2,656.87 (x3 checks from Nossi).” The next ledger entry states, “+$530.00 (x1 check Nossi) ($3,186.87).”

Speaking to the Nashville Metropolitan Police, the shooter’s mother said, “It was the grant money.”

Trump admin halts all childcare payments to Minnesota after massive fraud allegations: ‘We have turned off the money spigot.’

The Trump administration is freezing all childcare payments to Minnesota and demanding a comprehensive audit of the state’s day care centers as a mushrooming billion-dollar fraud scandal engulfs the state’s human services department.

“We have frozen all child care payments to the state of Minnesota,” Deputy Health and Human Services Secretary Jim O’Neill wrote on X Tuesday afternoon, days after a viral video investigating alleged fraud at day care centers in the state drew national attention.

Minnesota has received $185 million in childcare payments from the Trump administration this year, according to Alex Adams, assistant secretary of HHS’ Administration for Children and Families.

The “funds will be released only when states prove they are being spent legitimately,” the HHS secretary said.

O’Neill said Minnesota has “funneled millions of taxpayer dollars to fraudulent daycares across Minnesota over the past decade,” and outlined three actions the department has taken in an attempt to cut off the flow of exploitable funds.

Millions of taxpayer dollars have gone to facilities like the “Quality Learing Center” which is at the center of fraud allegations.LP Media for NY Post

The first action will impose the requirement for “a receipt or photo evidence” for any payments made to states through the US Administration for Children & Families (ACF).O’Neill said he has “demanded” Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz conduct a “comprehensive audit” of the centers highlighted.

“This includes attendance records, licenses, complaints, investigations, and inspections,” he writes.

He specifically cited YouTuber Nick Shirley’s video published on Friday, in which he visited day care centers across Minneapolis receiving millions in state funds that appeared to be closed or out of operation.

Third, HHS has launched a hotline and email address dedicated to reporting fraud at childcare.gov.

Here’s the latest on the Minnesota fraud scheme:

“Whether you are a parent, provider, or member of the general public, we want to hear from you,” he said.

“We have turned off the money spigot and we are finding the fraud.”

So far at least $1 billion in fraud has been confirmed by authorities, and 92 people have been charged, 82 of whom are Somali immigrants, according to the US Attorney’s office, which warned the number could be as high as $9 billion.