Hypocrites And Firearms

It's one thing to have an honest disagreement on gun rights (or, as the antis put it, gun control) issues. It's another thing altogether to flat out misrepresent and distort - or, as my dear old Dad would say, lie - about the facts.

Kelly Burke is president of the Texas chapter of the anti-guns group Moms Demand. During recent testimony before the Texas Senate she falsely claimed that Texas concealed handgun license (CHL) statistics are kept hidden from the public.

She went on to misspeak lie about statements by CHL supporters that license holders are responsible and law abiding, calling them “anecdotal and conjecture”.

The facts are that (1) statistics about CHL holders can be easily accessed at the Texas DPS website; and (2) those statistics show that Texas CHL holders are approximately 1/12th as likely to be convicted of a crime as an average Texan.

In fact, an analysis of concealed carry permit holders shows that the conviction rate for criminal offenses of LEOs in Texas is approximately 6 times higher than the rate for CHL licensees. That same analysis shows a similar pattern in other states.

In related news highlighting the hypocrisy of anti-gunners, a prominent anti-gun lawyer was arrested in Cleveland for trying to board an airplane with a handgun and ammunition in his carry-on bag.

David Malik was arrested about 4:15 p.m. after airport security found an unloaded .22 caliber handgun and a box of ammunition in his carry-on bag...

Malik is just following in the footsteps of other anti-gun activists, such as SAFE Act proponent Dwayne Ferguson (arrested for illegally having a gun on his person at a Buffalo elementary school) and California State Senator Leland Yee (arrested on political corruption, racketeering and gun trafficking charges).

Also, in response to liberal assertions that females on college campuses are subject to a high level of sexual assaults, a number of states are considering legislation that would allow licensed carry of guns on campus.

As gun rights advocates push to legalize firearms on college campuses, an argument is taking shape: Arming female students will help reduce sexual assaults…

... lawmakers in 10 states who are pushing bills that would permit the carrying of firearms on campus are hoping that the national spotlight on sexual assault will help them win passage of their measures. “If you’ve got a person that’s raped because you wouldn’t let them carry a firearm to defend themselves, I think you’re responsible,” State Representative Dennis K. Baxley of Florida said during debate in a House subcommittee last month. The bill passed.

Liberal heads, predictably, are exploding. They evidently can't handle being hoisted by their own petard.

... objectors to the bills say that advocates of the campus carry laws, predominantly Republicans with well-established pro-gun stances, are merely exploiting a hot-button issue. “The gun lobby has seized on this tactic, this subject of sexual assault,” said Andy Pelosi, the executive director of the Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus.

Yet wasn't it those same liberals who have grossly exaggerated claims of campus sexual assaults for political purposes?

Using Bureau of Justice survey data that includes: a) reported and unreported cases of sexual assault and rape, and b) threatened, attempted and completed cases, the rate of campus sexual assault, we can say that:

1. Women ages 18 to 24 attending college have about a 25% lower chance of being the victim of rape or sexual assault compared to their nonstudent counterparts.

2. College campuses have become safer for women in the last few decades, based on the decline in the rape/assault rate by 50% since 1997.

3. Over the last four years, about 1 in 52 college women were raped or sexually assaulted, which is different by a factor of more than ten times compared to the “1 in 5″ claim made by the White House based on the findings of one survey from students at two universities. Of course, 1 in 52 college women being the victim of a rape or sexual assault is still too high, but the controversy about campus sexual assault (and the victims) is best served by truthful and accurate data, and this new report from the Justice Department will hopefully contribute to the accuracy of the data on a very important issue.

Hypocrisy, thy name is Liberal.