Naked Chicks With Guns

Hah!

Now that I've got your attention, I'd like to discuss a couple of semi-related news stories. The first falls in the category of "Be careful what you ask for."

Remember when Colorado legislators -- more specifically, democrat Colorado legislators --  passed that law last March limiting magazine capacity? One of the unintended consequences of that is the relocation of Magpul Industries, a firearms accessories manufacturing firm. Magpul is leaving the state, taking 200+ jobs with it (and possibly 400 more), along with $85 million in state revenue and a planned expansion that would have generated even more jobs and revenue.

Colo. Democrats blamed for $80M hit to economy by pushing out gun firm Magpul

Democrats came under heavy criticism Friday for driving Magpul Industries out of Colorado by pushing an aggressive gun-control agenda, a move that could cost the state more than $80 million annually.

Officials at Magpul, which makes polymer firearms accessories, announced Thursday that the company will move its corporate headquarters to Texas and its manufacturing facility to Wyoming. Both are now based in Erie, Colo.

The relocation comes as a result of a measure signed by Gov. John Hickenlooper in March that limits ammunition-magazine capacity to 15 rounds...

Prior to the signing, Magpul officials told state officials that the company contributes more than $85 million annually to Colorado’s economy. The company employs 200 people and supports another 400 supply-chain jobs.

A year ago, the rapidly expanding firm was preparing to build a state-of-the-art facility in Broomfield, but pivoted after the gun-control bills gained steam...

“2013 began with Magpul planning expansion in Colorado, now 2014 begins with the announcement that Magpul will move 92 percent of its operation to Wyoming and Texas,” said Republican state Sen. Greg Brophy in a statement.

Today's second story takes a more global look at the effectiveness of gun control laws - rather, the ineffectiveness of same. A new academic study supports what many of us have been saying for years - gun control laws control law-abiding people, not criminals.

New Study Demolishes Almost Every Gun Control Myth

A study published in the latest issue of the academic journal Applied Economics Letters took on many of the claims made regularly by advocates of stricter gun laws. The study determined that nearly every claim made in support of stronger restrictions on gun ownership is not supported by an exhaustive analysis of crime statistics.

The study, “An examination of the effects of concealed weapons laws and assault weapons bans on state-level murder rates,” conducted by Quinnipiac University economist Mark Gius, examined nearly 30 years of statistics and concluded that stricter gun laws do not result in a reduction in gun violence. In fact, Gius found the opposite – that a proliferation of concealed carry permits can actually reduce incidents of gun crime.

... the results of the present study suggest that states with restrictions on the carrying of concealed weapons had higher gun-related murder rates than other states,” the study’s abstract reads. “It was also found that assault weapons bans did not significantly affect murder rates at the state level.”

“These results suggest that restrictive concealed weapons laws may cause an increase in gun-related murders at the state level,” the abstract concludes.

Gius notes that his findings are consistent with those of John R. Lott and David B. Mustard, two researchers who authored a controversial 1997 study which found that right-to-carry concealed gun provisions both “deters violent crimes and it appears to produce no increase in accidental deaths.”

Of course, such data-driven results will do little to convince staunch gun control advocates, whose motto can be expressed as "My mind is made up. Don't confuse me with the facts."

Actually, I may be a little unfair in mocking liberals. As the chart below shows, they can take a set of facts and reason their way to a conclusion.