Second Amendment Updates

For your enjoyment and enlightenment, here's a few Second Amendment related stories that have been in the news lately. Let's start off with misdirection, distortion, and outright lies by who else - barack obama and the mainstream media.

Obama’s Gun-Control Misfire - Before the 2014 election, the FBI claimed that mass shootings were up. False.

Last September the Obama administration produced an FBI report that said mass shooting attacks and deaths were up sharply—by an average annual rate of about 16% between 2000 and 2013. Moreover, the problem was worsening. “The findings establish an increasing frequency of incidents,” said the authors. “During the first 7 years included in the study, an average of 6.4 incidents occurred annually. In the last 7 years of the study, that average increased to 16.4 incidents annually.”

The White House could not possibly have been more pleased with the media reaction to these findings, which were prominently featured by the New York Times, USA Today, CNN, the Washington Post and other major outlets. The FBI report landed six weeks before the midterm elections, and the administration was hoping that the gun-control issue would help drive Democratic turnout.

But late last week, J. Pete Blair and M. Hunter Martaindale, two academics at Texas State University who co-authored the FBI report, acknowledged that “our data is imperfect.” They said that the news media “got it wrong” last year when they “mistakenly reported mass shootings were on the rise.”

... Over the past 40 years, there has been no statistically significant increase in mass shootings in the U.S.

Gee, distorted facts... inconsistent data sources... cherry-picked reporting periods... kind of reminds me of global warming climate change weather reports.

Of course, corrections of the 'mistaken' report were either buried or not even published by that same MSM.

On the other side of the country:

Rise in accidental gunshots by L.A. County deputies follows new firearm

Accidental gunshots by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies have more than doubled in two years, endangering bystanders and occasionally injuring deputies. The jump coincides with the department's move to a new handgun that lacks a safety lever and requires less pressure to pull the trigger.

Sheriff's officials say that the increase in accidental discharges — from 12 in 2012 to 30 last year — occurred because deputies were adjusting to the new gun. They expect the numbers to fall in the years ahead. So far this year, the department has recorded seven accidental discharges, five of which involved the new weapon.

But the problems may not be over, as more deputies switch to the Smith & Wesson M&P9. In response, department officials have imposed extra training requirements.

... The switch was prompted in part by the threat of a lawsuit by women who had failed the Sheriff's Academy.

Naturally. If a woman/minority/transgender fails something, it's obviously sexism/racism/whateverism. Therefore the only right thing to do is to change the standards.

Sigh...

But the sharp increase in accidental discharges has prompted an investigation by the Sheriff's Department's new inspector general. Critics say this type of semiautomatic, which is widespread in law enforcement and includes the Glock used by many agencies, is too easy to misfire.

For two decades, L.A. County sheriff's deputies carried the Beretta 92F, a heavy metal gun with a large grip.

People with small hands often have trouble flipping up the Beretta's safety as they prepare to fire. The first shot requires 12 to 15 pounds of pressure on the trigger, forcing some to use two fingers and reducing shooting accuracy for many. Subsequent shots take about 4 pounds of pressure.

The M&P is made of lightweight polymer, with a hand grip that comes in three sizes. Firing a round is as simple as pulling the trigger with a consistent 6 to 8 pounds of pressure.

L.A. County sheriff's deputies learning to shoot the Beretta were taught to rest a finger on the trigger as soon as they took aim. The mantra was "on target, on trigger."

With M&Ps and Glocks, the trigger finger should stay on the side of the gun until the last moment.

That's where it should be. If people heeded that dictum there would be far fewer 'accidental' discharges.

The M&P appears to have fulfilled its promise on one front: More women are making it into the department. The percentage of female recruits who failed the firearms test has plunged from 6.4% to less than 1%.

Pass rates are up across the board, not just for women. With the Beretta, more than 60% of trainees in one academy class needed extra firearms training. Ten out of 80 or so trainees in another class flunked because of the shooting test.

With the M&P, the class with the worst shooting results sent only 17% of trainees to remediation, and only three failed.

So riddle me this. If more people are passing the certification test, why are negligent discharges up? That seems to indicate the training is less rigorous...

...but the social goals are being achieved. That's what really matters.

For the record, I have no objection to 'reasonable accommodations' that recognize the undeniable physical differences between men and women. Case in point: different combat boots and tactical vests/body armor for male and female soldiers. What I do object to is the lowering of standards to inflate the number of women in a given role. Different boots are okay. Different forced march or load-carrying standards are not.

Meanwhile, closer to home:

Two controversial gun bills were signed Saturday by Gov. Greg Abbott.

Senate Bill 11 — otherwise known as “campus carry” — allows licensed gun owners to carry a concealed handgun in and around public college buildings and dorms. The bill includes a concession allowing schools to carve out “gun-free zones.” It takes effect August 1, 2016.

House Bill 910 — otherwise known as “open carry” — lifts a 140-year-old ban. It will allow licensed gun owners to openly carry a holstered handgun in any location that allows the carrying of a concealed gun. It takes effect January 1, 2016.

They're not perfect, but it's a start. Of course, the same old tired arguments were trotted out - it'll be the Wild West all over again; blood will be flowing in the streets; etc. etc. etc. Well, here's a little reality check.

When the Texas Concealed Handgun Law took effect in 1996, pundits and naysayers predicted anarchy. Any minute, there would surely be mass violence as armed Texas citizens began roving the streets settling arguments with gunfire. Certainly, several proclaimed, within a year there would be blood in the streets as Texas returned to the days of the Wild West.

Ten years later the facts paint a different picture. Texas under the Concealed Handgun Law isn’t the Wild West, but the Mild West. No recurrent shootouts at four-way stops, no blood in the streets. Quite the contrary, Texans are safer than before.

Since the passage of the Concealed Handgun Law, the FBI Uniform Crime Report shows an 18% drop in handgun murders, down from 838 in 1995 to 688 in 2004. And a 13% drop in handgun murders per 100,000 population, down from 4.5 murders per 100,000 Texans in 1995 to 3.95 per 100,000 in 2004.

In 2000, on the fifth anniversary of the Concealed Handgun Law, the National Center for Policy Analysis issued a report that indicated Texans with concealed carry permits are far less likely to commit a serious crime than the average citizen.

According to the report, the more than 200,000 Texans licensed to carry a concealed firearm are much more law-abiding than the average person.

The report illustrated that Texans who exercise their right to carry firearms are 5.7 times less likely to be arrested for a violent offense. They are 14 times less likely to be arrested for a non-violent offense.

More:

...the number of (Texas Concealed Handgun License) holders who commit murder or manslaughter is remarkably low. According to (Department of Public Safety) reports, the number of murder and manslaughter convictions for CHL holders has totaled 30 over the 16 years they’ve compiled the numbers . . .

... the ratio of CHL holder convictions for murder and manslaughter per 100,000 CHL holders per year (is) .70/100,000.

Yes, the decimal point is in the correct place. The rate of murder and manslaughter for the general population of Texas ... is 6.0/100,000.

Still, facts mean nothing to the anti-gunners...