PA Bill Number: HB829
Title: In preliminary provisions, further providing for definitions;
Description: An Act amending the act of April 12, 1951 (P.L.90, No.21), known as the Liquor Code, in preliminary provisions, further providing for definitions;
Last Action: Signed in House
Last Action Date: Jul 3, 2024
Brady Campaign Uses Handgun Deaths To Justify Assault Weapon Ban :: 06/08/2018
Many of us have often remarked that gun grabbers don’t know the first thing about guns. We have ample evidence of this, after all. Shannon Watts touted perhaps the least dangerous firearm possible as a deadly assault weapon, for example.
To be sure, it kind of makes sense. People who understand guns won’t take some of the positions this crowd tends to take. They’d understand a great deal more, and while they might still be anti-gun, their positions would include nearly as much stupidity as it does.
Yet, the fact remains that they don’t. Maybe that’s why the Brady Campaign seems intent on defending the Deerfield, IL assault weapon ban by referencing handgun-related crimes and fatalities.
Meanwhile, Brady & Co. have come up with some rather astounding arguments to defend their gun ban.
The defendants’ brief (click for .pdf) in opposition to our motion for injunctive relief argues the village’s ban on rifles is necessity “to protect the public health, safety and welfare.” Then they boldly cite criminal misuse of handguns as justification for their ban on scary-looking rifles.
Hard to believe, right? It’s true. They cite the South Carolina church killings and the attempted assassination of Gabby Giffords — both crimes committed with handguns — as reasons to ban rifles.
They also cited the Washington D.C. Naval Yard spree killing. There, a lunatic used a no-frills Mossberg 500 shotgun purchased at Dick’s Sporting Goods to kill most of his victims. He also used a handgun stolen from a murdered security guard.
Yes, the Village argues that they need to ban rifles because of criminals who used handguns and shotguns to kill people. That’s some sound logic, right? Not so much.
There comes a time in your life when you just have to smack yourself on the forehead at the stupidity.
Of course, it also makes sense they’d reference these crimes to defend an assault weapon ban for one simple reason. Crimes using assault weapons tend to be very high profile, but they’re actually pretty damn rare. Yes, we can see the results of Las Vegas or Parkland for ourselves, but what about all the months between those shootings? Where were all the AR-15s used in crimes?
The answer is that there really weren’t any.
To be sure, the vast majority of criminals–including a lot of potential mass shooters–prefer to use handguns because they’re more portable. You can get out of a car and walk into a building with a whole crowd around you and no one know you’ve got a handgun unless you let them know. With a rifle like an AR-15? Not so much. You walk around with one of those and everyone knows what you’re carrying.
When it comes to more mundane crimes, we almost never see an AR-15 used. We’re not likely to, either. They’re big, they’re bulky, and they kind of suck if you need to be discrete, which is why criminals have always preferred handguns.
Deerfield’s policy isn’t about crime or about keeping their community safe. Not really.
It’s about making damn sure everyone knows they think the right way and don’t have any of those icky black rifles in their community. It’s virtue signaling at its finest.
Either that or they really are that dumb.
Tom Knighton is a Navy veteran, a former newspaperman, a novelist, and a blogger and lifetime shooter. He lives with his family in Southwest Georgia.
https://bearingarms.com/author/tomknighton/
