As Terrorists Murder Americans Overseas, Brady Campaign Not Sure America is Greatest Nation on Earth

NRA-ILA ^ | September 14, 2012 | NA

[neverdem]

If there's one thing Brady Campaign president Dan Gross learned from the days when he worked for an ad agency, it's that you have to tailor your message to your audience. So when Gross was writing his most recent commentary for the America-bashing Huffington Post website, it was only natural that he would try to stir up support for gun control by speaking in terms America-bashers were sure to understand.

So, on Thursday, two days after four Americans--Ambassador Christopher Stevens, Foreign Service information officer Sean Smith, and former Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods--were murdered by America-haters in Libya, Gross said that those of us who think that America is the greatest nation on Earth should prove it--by imposing more gun control.

Realizing that England--or, for that matter, probably any other country--is more popular than the United States among Huffington Post readers, Gross praised Great Britain for banning virtually all handguns in the 1990s, while criticizing "America's response" for having been "the polar opposite."

Whether America's response has been the "opposite" depends upon what you are measuring, of course. On the one hand, it's a fact that while Britain was banning semi-automatic rifles, then center-fire handguns, then rimfire handguns, America was eliminating or favorably amending one federal, state and local gun control law after another. And while guns were being turned in to the police in Great Britain, gun purchases were soaring in the United States.

On the other hand, American and British crime trends have not been "opposite" at all. While crime has decreased in Great Britain, it has decreased here as well. For example, in the next few days the FBI is expected to release its crime report for 2011 which, in conjunction with earlier reports, will likely show that our nation's murder rate has fallen to nearly an all-time low, down by more than half since 1991.

Since President Barack Obama took office, the Brady Campaign, the Violence Policy Center, and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence have written over 300 commentaries for the Huffington Post, while having only several published by the Wall St. Journal, the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, and the Los Angeles Times combined.

That suggests that anti-gun groups have largely given up trying to sell their ideas to mainstream Americans, sensing that gun control now appeals only to those on the fringe. However, the Huffington Post is the most popular political commentary website according to some measures, so its influence should not be underestimated. Certainly not in an election year when polls show that Gov. Mitt Romney--currently being attacked by the pro-Obama media because he correctly pointed out that on Sept. 11, our embassy in Cairo condemned a controversial movie, when it should have condemned the people who attacked our embassy--is still running neck and neck with the candidate most Huffington readers surely prefer.

Let's all vote on Election Day and really give the Huffington gaggle something to complain about.

[FlingWingFlyer]

I wonder if Mr. Gross has ever had a REAL job that involved REAL work.

[elcid1970]

The forcible citizen disarmament crowd aren’t done with us yet, not by a long shot.

I remember when GCA-68 was passed & the Walther PPK I brought back from Italy that summer was illegal to import six months later.

Things are different now. The IT revolution lets shine the light of truth upon these cockroaches and watch how they scatter!

O Josh Sugarmann, where is thy sting? Well....he’s probably got an enemies’ list of gun rights advocates who will soon be experiencing violent SWAT home invasions launched by nothing more than an anonymous cell call.

At least the battle is now joined on more or less equal terms. Wasn’t that way before.

[Sherman Logan]

For example, in the next few days the FBI is expected to release its crime report for 2011 which, in conjunction with earlier reports, will likely show that our nation's murder rate has fallen to nearly an all-time low, down by more than half since 1991.

I find it very interesting that this is part of a long-term trend in general decline in violence that has lasted for several centuries in this country. Homicide was MUCH more common in the 18th and 19th centuries.

http://marginalrevolution.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Violence-Stylized-2.png

1958 or thereabout was the all-time low, and then we had a drug and crime fueled doubling that lasted through the 80s and we've been declining since. We're almost back to where we were 50 years ago.

Some significant percentage of this decline is not due to less violence but to better medical treatment. In parallel with the amazing increase in survival rate for wounded American soldiers, we've also had an increase in survival rates for civilians wounded in crimes, though to a lesser extent. This accounts for perhaps 1/3 to 1/2 of the decline in murder rates since 1990.

[Bullish]

Mr. Gross can kiss my .357

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks neverdem.