I watched the “Guns & Mothers” program on PBS last night.  At first it seemed like an objective presentation of the opinions on both sides of the gun control issue.  However, I couldn’t help but feel that there was a bit of anti-gun bias.  

Not wanting to give in to paranoia until I’m sure they really are out to get me, I chewed on it a while.  Then I noticed things such as one of the commentators (I believe it was the author of “The Politics of Gun Control”) saying that “most” (however many that is) of the guns used in crimes in NY were obtained in other states that have less strict gun control.  He went on to suggest that this may indicate that tough gun control in all states may work to reduce crime overall.

Let’s see if his reasoning stands the test of logical consistency.  To take the idea that the guns are the cause of the problem and apply it to these other states he mentioned that have easy, plentiful access to firearms, reason would dictate that those states would be killing fields with wholesale slaughter and blood filling the gutters in the streets.  Hold on a second- let me look out my window and check………… Nope.  Ain’t happening.

Conclusion: Guns cause crime like spoons made Rosie O’Donnell fat.

One of the mothers featured had lost all three of her sons to criminals wielding guns in three separate incidents.  She is a MMM supporter, pushing for stricter gun control.  While she has my sympathy for her tragic loss, there are a couple of painfully obvious points I need to mention.  1) She lives in an inner city neighborhood in Brooklyn.  NYC already has strict gun control.  2) I think if I lived in a dangerous area and one of my children was murdered by some neighborhood thug I would move heaven and earth to relocate rather than keep my remaining kids in that environment.

Something else I noticed was liberal bleeding hearts confronting the SAS folks during a public display in Philadelphia.  When faced with reason and facts the liberals resorted to one of their beloved tactics: the filibuster (Filibuster= we can’t win on merit so we’ll obstruct and prevent the other side from speaking).  

Anybody else catch that show?

I missed it, however IIRC my PBS station near me will replay shows later in the week at earlier times.  I'll set the VCR.

As mentioned, I also look out my window and I do not see this mass destruction caused by moderate-to-light gun laws, and because it's harder to show something that doesn't exist, documentary producers concentrate on what they can show.

A lot of the BS on more and stiffer gun control is debunked during the election/re-election campaign of 2002 and some pretty big-named liberals got defeated at the polls. At lot of people didn't believe that BS call for more anti-gun laws courtesy of the Belt Way Snipers. A lot of people saw the through the antis tired arguements for more gun control. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that more laws couldn't/wouldn't have prevented the Belt Way snipers from killing all those people. Unfortunately, here is where a mass incident helped the gunners. Unfortunately, or actually fortunately the two snipers were non-white, so that took a way some fo the steam of the liberal news media.



Not only concentrate, but exaggerate because while the deaths are unfortunate, there are other factors in the equation, how about drug dealing and gangs; now that is one relationship of cause and effect.

Brohawk you must not live on Sprull Ave in Charleston. [rolleyes]

I recorded it last night.  (I go to bed early.)

The argument of the commentator is the same one used by supporters of Communism:  "It [i]would[/i] work if [b]EVERYBODY[/b] did it!"

Let's see:  England, Wales & Scottland, an ISLAND, have uniform gun laws.  No fully automatic weapons.  No semi-automatic rifles or shotguns.  Strict restrictions on other long guns.  Handguns have been banned since 1997.

And firearm involved crime has been climbing by double-digit percentages for YEARS.  Handgun crimes alone have increased over 40% since the ban.  Guns are being smuggled in from Eastern Europe.  Brand-new in-the-wrapper fully-automatic weapons have been found by the cops, and used in murders in London (remember the recent killing of two teenaged girls?  Full-auto weapon used.)  Replica guns are being "reactivated."  Guns are being made from pens and CELL PHONES.

Essentially, (as the old bromide goes) only the criminals and the government (but I'm being redundant) have guns.

I don't expect the program to be "fair and balanced."  It is, after all, PBS.  However, I'm interested in watching it anyway just to see how they treat the woman who belongs to the Second Amendment Sisters.

At the end, where the MMM woman from Brooklyn was lamenting about how violent things are today from when she was growing up, I got kind of frustrated listening to her.

She was wailing about how back in the day, if you had a problem with someone, you'd just have a fist fight to settle your differences. Nobody had guns, that was something for the police and soldiers.

Now today, the kids want Uzis, they want 9mm's, and if they have a problem with someone, they just kill them.

But I was just thinking, they had Uzis and 9mm's back in the day.  If anything, they were probably a lot easier to get.  If you wanted a gun in the 70's or 60's, you could get one.  What happened in the 90's that resulted in all these kids from the ghetto to Columbine that pushes them to kill?  Why doesn't Switzerland with all their guns have the same problem to our degree?

These are questions the MMM and VPC dont want to address.  They just fixate on the guns.  Ban guns, they'll go away......just like drugs went away when they were banned.

JimBeam: Nope, but I read about it in the Most Inferior!  I'm up here in sleepy ol' Summerville.  

Actually, I have been down on Spruill.  One of those ugly spots that every city has.  However, I think pointing at it as an example wouldn't present an overall accurate picture of the greater Charleston area.

I also hear about America Street regularly on the evening news.  

Referring back to the original post, I would be negligent and contributory if I kept my family in a dangerous neighborhood.  I feel for the woman who lost her sons, but I have to wonder why on earth she kept her two remaining sons there after the first one was murdered, then kept the one there after the second brother was killed.  And then the last one...

Sad.

Both the commentators are anti-gun:
Robert Spitzer, who is a professor somewhere.
Fox Butterfield, a crime reporter for the New York  Times.  He regularly carries water for the anti-gun people.

I watched some of it and it seemed to be balanced.  The SAS lady came across very nicely - a sober woman passionate about her right to defend herself and her family.