{"id":104437,"date":"2024-09-19T22:54:46","date_gmt":"2024-09-20T03:54:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=104437"},"modified":"2024-09-19T22:54:46","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T03:54:46","slug":"104437","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=104437","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nssf.org\/articles\/vp-harris-pressed-by-media-on-illegally-obtained-firearms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Credit Where Due: VP Harris Finally Pressed By Media on Illegally Obtained Firearms<\/a><\/p>\n<p>It was quite surprising to hear it when it happened but Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, was fact checked in real time about the real drivers of criminal gun violence. She was tripped up on her answer because the journalist pressing her wasn\u2019t buying the vice president\u2019s tired talking points.<\/p>\n<p>It happened during an\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/live\/4lphPrbdLvo?si=DSBtm1AjzxKLhf3t&amp;t=1958\">interview<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0of the vice president at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) after one of the questioners asked Vice President Harris about her gun control platform.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4lphPrbdLvo?si=fxNwlLzD3YHvPwwK&amp;start=1961\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>For those needing any reminding, the Biden-Harris administration has been the\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nssf.org\/articles\/vice-president-kamala-harris-owns-the-biden-administrations-hostilities-towards-firearm-industry\/\">most fervently anti-gun administration in history<\/a><\/strong>. Vice President Harris, as the administration\u2019s \u201cgun czar,\u201d has infamously instituted a \u201cwhole-of-government\u201d attack on the firearm and ammunition industry and the Second Amendment. She is\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/harris-led-office-atf-stonewalling-probe-collusion-anti-gun-group-lawsuit-house-oversight-chair\">colluding with gun control groups<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 who literally operate out of her office. As President Joe Biden\u2019s \u201cgun czar,\u201d Harris has continually failed to bring criminals to account for their crimes.<\/p>\n<p>Vice President Kamala Harris tries to claim to voters in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia and other close-polling states that she \u201cisn\u2019t taking anyone\u2019s guns away from them\u201d while in the same breath calling for a ban and confiscation of an entire class of lawfully made and legally purchased firearms \u2013 the most popular rifle in America. That\u2019s just about the extent of her \u201cplan\u201d to reduce criminal gun violence. But finally, she received pushback for specifics that voters deserve to hear.<\/p>\n<h4>Please Answer the Question<\/h4>\n<p>Whenever Vice President Kamala Harris has been asked about criminals committing gun crimes, her response is predictably always the same. She calls for more gun control on law-abiding Americans, lists a kitchen sink full of anti-Second Amendment talking points and blames Congress for inaction. This is despite the fact that for the first two years of the Biden-Harris administration, Democrats controlled both chambers in Congress and The White House. She never mentions that not even all Democrats in the U.S. Senate supported a bill to reinstate, and expanded, a so-called \u201cassault weapons\u201d ban. That doesn\u2019t stop the vice president from repeating those calls. But the interviewers at the NABJ wanted more specifics from her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn cities like Philadelphia, handguns are responsible for most homicides and violent crime,\u201d NPR\u2019s Tonya Mosely<strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/live\/4lphPrbdLvo?si=-bDOqRHkmhOOkz6y&amp;t=1955\">began<\/a><\/strong>. \u201cHow will you address the issue of the use of handguns because a push for an assault weapons ban only addresses, um, a significant but small part of the problem?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The vice president began her answer by repeating the talking point that she and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz were both gun owners. She\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/live\/4lphPrbdLvo?feature=shared\">claimed<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0\u201cwe\u2019re not trying to take anyone\u2019s guns away from them. But we do need an assault weapons ban.\u201d As she continued to filibuster her answer about how\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nssf.org\/msr\">Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs)<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0need to be banned and universal background checks must be implemented, Mosely interrupted and pressed her further.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRespectfully, we do understand that. But I\u2019m asking specifically about handguns because many of those handguns aren\u2019t purchased at places that run background checks. In many of those instances those handguns aren\u2019t bought lawfully.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The vice president was stumped. She had no response to the logical reasoning that the firearm industry continues to highlight when calls for gun control are made \u2013 that criminals do not follow the law. NSSF has\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nssf.org\/articles\/inmate-survey-criminals-break-the-law-to-obtain-guns\/\">reported on Department of Justice data that shows 90 percent<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0of firearms used by criminals in the commission of their crime were obtained through illicit means and not at a firearm retailer. It\u2019s also one of the main reasons\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nssf.org\/articles\/the-main-source-of-guns-used-in-crime-is-the-black-market\/\">why universal background checks won\u2019t work<\/a><\/strong>. That and the fact that a national firearm registry is\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nssf.org\/articles\/universal-background-checks-are-unenforceable-without-a-national-firearm-registry\/\">prohibited by law<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0under the Gun Control Act of 1986 and the Brady Act of 1993.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h4>Shift the Conversation<\/h4>\n<p>Vice President Harris noticeably paused and shifted her answer to another gun control clich\u00e9 \u2013 gun shows.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s why I have also been adamant about for years, in fact, I myself have protested at a gun show \u2013 probably ten, fifteen years ago,\u201d the vice president said. \u201cBut the gun show loophole and why we need to close that. Because what ends up happening is that gun shows at flea markets, gun dealers are not, under existing law in the past, required to register their sales.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to the Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ammoland.com\/2024\/04\/is-biden-admin-poised-to-exploit-gun-show-loophole-fraud\/\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-linkindex=\"1\" data-ogsc=\"\"><strong>data reveals<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0that of prison inmates who possessed a gun while committing a crime, fewer than 1 percent (0.8) had obtained the firearm at a gun show. In addition, firearms that are purchased at a gun show must still be transferred through a federal firearms licensee with a processed FBI NICS verification. The \u201cgun show loophole\u201d the vice president references is a myth.<\/p>\n<p>She began to wrap up her answer by\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/thereload.com\/kamala-harris-doubles-down-on-gun-restrictions-backs-community-violence-intervention-programs\/\">unironically hitting the nail on the head<\/a><\/strong>. \u201cAnd so you are exactly right, that a lot of homicides for example\u2026are committed with illegally purchased guns.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s more in her response but what she did not mention was getting tough on criminals, especially repeat offenders who often get out of jail or are released without even going to jail. She did not mention supporting law enforcement in their role to protect communities and keep neighborhoods safe. In Washington, D.C., for instance, the U.S. attorney\u2019s\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nssf.org\/articles\/yes-prosecuting-arresting-criminals-would-have-immediate-impact-on-d-c-s-crime\/\">own recent report<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0reveals as few as 500 identifiable people, many of them involved in neighborhood crews or cliques, are responsible for 70 percent of the city\u2019s shootings.<\/p>\n<h4>Prevention<\/h4>\n<p>One point the vice president did touch on that the firearm industry agrees with, though approaches in vastly different ways, is crime prevention. It\u2019s why the firearm industry is so serious about the\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nssf.org\/articles\/atf-director-firearm-industry-programs-work-to-reduce-crime-firearm-accidents\/\">Real Solutions. Safer Communities\u00ae.<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0initiatives that have a proven record of\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nssf.org\/articles\/firearm-industry-real-solutions-efforts-dramatically-decrease-firearm-retail-thefts\/\">reducing firearm thefts<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0from mom and pop retail locations, preventing the<strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/dontlie.org\/\">illegal purchasing of firearms by straw purchasers<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and ensuring lawful gun owners understand the importance of and practice\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nssf.org\/articles\/preventing-firearm-tragedies-begins-with-safe-storage\/\">safe and responsible firearm storage in the home<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0when their firearms are not in use.<\/p>\n<p>Vice President Kamala Harris will pursue a stringent gun control agenda should she win presidency in November, there\u2019s no question about it. The firearm industry continues to cooperate with law enforcement to try to reduce firearm crimes and tragedies while at the same time respecting Constitutional rights to keep and bear arms. Voters across the country must get registered to vote, educate themselves on where the candidates stand on issues and, most importantly, turn out to vote on or before November 5th.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s too much at stake. The Second Amendment is on the ballot. Don\u2019t Risk Your Rights \u2013\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/gunvote.org\/\">#GUNVOTE<\/a>\u00ae<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Credit Where Due: VP Harris Finally Pressed By Media on Illegally Obtained Firearms It was quite surprising to hear it when it happened but Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, was fact checked in real time about the real drivers of criminal gun violence. She was tripped up on her answer because &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=104437\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75,8,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media","category-rkba","category-vid-o-the-day"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=104437"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104437\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104438,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104437\/revisions\/104438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=104437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=104437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=104437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}