The CDC Report on Firearms that you didn't hear about

We were treated to much carping and bitching in the media and punditry circles about the 'evil' NRA obstructing legitimate endeavors to study the use and effects of firearms in the US. The meme went that if only such a study could be conducted, we would surely see that guns were bad...mmm'kay?

The report linked below was released in June. Heard about in the media? Nope. Heard the Newtown families continue to be pimped by the gun control cabal? Yep.

Guns and Ammo magazine has excerpted the following portions of the report, which is also linked at their site.

1. Armed citizens are less likely to be injured by an attacker:
“Studies that directly assessed the effect of actual defensive uses of guns (i.e., incidents in which a gun was ‘used’ by the crime victim in the sense of attacking or threatening an offender) have found consistently lower injury rates among gun-using crime victims compared with victims who used other self-protective strategies.”

2. Defensive uses of guns are common:
“Almost all national survey estimates indicate that defensive gun uses by victims are at least as common as offensive uses by criminals, with estimates of annual uses ranging from about 500,000 to more than 3 million per year…in the context of about 300,000 violent crimes involving firearms in 2008.”

3. Mass shootings and accidental firearm deaths account for a small fraction of gun-related deaths, and both are declining:
“The number of public mass shootings of the type that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School accounted for a very small fraction of all firearm-related deaths. Since 1983 there have been 78 events in which 4 or more individuals were killed by a single perpetrator in 1 day in the United States, resulting in 547 victims and 476 injured persons.” The report also notes, “Unintentional firearm-related deaths have steadily declined during the past century. The number of unintentional deaths due to firearm-related incidents accounted for less than 1 percent of all unintentional fatalities in 2010.”

4. “Interventions” (i.e, gun control) such as background checks, so-called assault rifle bans and gun-free zones produce “mixed” results:
“Whether gun restrictions reduce firearm-related violence is an unresolved issue.” The report could not conclude whether “passage of right-to-carry laws decrease or increase violence crime.”

5. Gun buyback/turn-in programs are “ineffective” in reducing crime:
“There is empirical evidence that gun turn in programs are ineffective, as noted in the 2005 NRC study Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review. For example, in 2009, an estimated 310 million guns were available to civilians in the United States (Krouse, 2012), but gun buy-back programs typically recover less than 1,000 guns (NRC, 2005). On the local level, buy-backs may increase awareness of firearm violence. However, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for example, guns recovered in the buy-back were not the same guns as those most often used in homicides and suicides (Kuhn et al., 2002).”

6. Stolen guns and retail/gun show purchases account for very little crime:
“More recent prisoner surveys suggest that stolen guns account for only a small percentage of guns used by convicted criminals. … According to a 1997 survey of inmates, approximately 70 percent of the guns used or possess by criminals at the time of their arrest came from family or friends, drug dealers, street purchases, or the underground market.”

7. The vast majority of gun-related deaths are not homicides, but suicides:
“Between the years 2000-2010 firearm-related suicides significantly outnumbered homicides for all age groups, annually accounting for 61 percent of the more than 335,600 people who died from firearms related violence in the United States.”

SSG Ty Carter - American Hero

The Proof Revealed - Updated

They don't care about saving lives. They don't care about innocent victims. They would deny the ability and the tools to a victim of assault...tolls that could save their life or the loves of their children....in a petulant campaign for a utopian paradigm where the State is the only entity allowed the use of force. This is their end game.

Yep, the State...that surveils you and restricts your civil liberties on a daily basis. That State.

This is the aim of the gun control cabal.

h/t Gun Free Zone, Sharp as a Marble

**Updated**

So-called “gun free zones” have never been known to prevent a single violent crime and even the CeaseFire president has acknowledged that “this won’t stop someone determined to cause violence but we hope that standing together and giving businesses a tool to say no to guns will change the conversation around gun violence.”

That is dangerously self-delusional and it is one more exercise of symbolism over substance that makes neighborhoods less safe by creating risk-free environments for robbers, rapists and other criminals.- Alan Gottlieb

h/t The View From North Central Idaho

Starbucks Appreciation Day

Love or hate their coffee, please try and stop by your local Starbucks and show them your support and gratitude for follwoing thei respective state's firearm laws. Starbucks is officially neutral on the subject of 2A right and gun control, but in an age where many businesses kowtow to the faux-populist intimidation by the gun control cabal, they have stood firm.

I did my part, stopping by the Starbucks on my way to work.

Mix guns and coffee and what do you get? A controversial Friday for Starbucks, as gun enthusiasts converge on thousands of Starbucks in Kansas City and across the nation.

It’s all part of a “Starbucks Gun Owners Appreciation Day,” which is being promoted by gun lovers. (Check out the interesting twist on the Starbucks logo on the cup in this link.)

The event endorses the view of CEO Howard Schultz, who has said weapons-toting customers are welcome to get their caffeine fixes at his shops.

It’s good business for Starbucks, given the number of Americans who absurdly think their 2nd Amendment rights are in danger of being taken away.

These are the people who want to take guns into public places to show they won’t be intimidated by gun-control advocates.

Or so the story goes.

The “Appreciation Day” has, of course, prompted the gun-control crowd to criticize Starbucks for being so positive about customers carrying guns in their stores.

Link

h/t Alphecca

The Downfall of the United States started here...Part II

Fearing that certain words and topics can make students feel unpleasant, officials are requesting 50 or so words be removed from city-issued tests.

The word “dinosaur” made the hit list because dinosaurs suggest evolution which creationists might not like, WCBS 880′s Marla Diamond reported. “Halloween” is targeted because it suggests paganism; a “birthday” might not be happy to all because it isn’t celebrated by Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Julie Lewis’ family celebrates Christmas and Kwanzaa, but she told CBS 2′s Emily Smith she wants her children to appreciate and learn about other holidays and celebrations.

“They’re going to meet people from all walks of life and they’re going to have to learn to adjust,” Lewis said.

Words that suggest wealth are excluded because they could make kids jealous. “Poverty” is also on the forbidden list. That’s something Sy Fliegal with the Center for Educational Innovation calls ridiculous.


In a throwback to “Footloose,” the word “dancing” is also taboo. However, there is good news for kids that like “ballet”: The city made an exception for this form of dance.

Also banned are references to “divorce” and “disease,” because kids taking the tests may have relatives who split from spouses or are ill.

There are banned words currently in school districts nationwide. Walcott said New York City’s list is longer because its student body is so diverse.

Here is the complete list of words that could be banned:

Abuse (physical, sexual, emotional, or psychological)

Alcohol (beer and liquor), tobacco, or drugs

Birthday celebrations (and birthdays)

Bodily functions

Cancer (and other diseases)

Catastrophes/disasters (tsunamis and hurricanes)

Celebrities

Children dealing with serious issues

Cigarettes (and other smoking paraphernalia)

Computers in the home (acceptable in a school or library setting)

Crime

Death and disease

Divorce

Evolution

Expensive gifts, vacations, and prizes

Gambling involving money

Halloween

Homelessness

Homes with swimming pools

Hunting

Junk food

In-depth discussions of sports that require prior knowledge

Loss of employment

Nuclear weapons

Occult topics (i.e. fortune-telling)

Parapsychology

Politics

Pornography

Poverty

Rap Music

Religion

Religious holidays and festivals (including but not limited to Christmas, Yom Kippur, and Ramadan)

Rock-and-Roll music

Running away

Sex

Slavery

Terrorism

Television and video games (excessive use)

Traumatic material (including material that may be particularly upsetting such as animal shelters)

Vermin (rats and roaches)

Violence

War and bloodshed

Weapons (guns, knives, etc.)

Witchcraft, sorcery, etc.
Link

Words fail me.....

Not so Random Thought of the Day

Thanks TTAG

The Downfall of the United States started here

Government workers in the city of Seattle have been advised that the terms "citizen" and "brown bag" are potentially offensive and may no longer be used in official documents and discussions.

KOMO-TV reports that the city's Office of Civil Rights instructed city workers in a recent internal memo to avoid using the words because some may find them offensive.

"Luckily, we've got options," Elliott Bronstein of the Office for Civil Rights wrote in the memo obtained by the station. "For 'citizens,' how about 'residents?'"

Bronstein told KIRO Radio the word "citizen" should be avoided because many people who live in Seattle are residents, not citizens.

"They are legal residents of the United States and they are residents of Seattle. They pay taxes and if we use a term like citizens in common use, then it doesn't include a lot of folks," Bronstein said.

Link

I'm beyond words. It's part of the master Statist plan. If you're no longer a CITIZEN, but rather a RESIDENT.....you cannot rely on the protections enshrined in the Constitution. RESIDENTS have no such rights....only CITIZENS do.

Gun Control Cabal issues agitprop playbook

The gun control brain trust released their marching orders for their minions who attempt to counter those of us who use facts and the Constitution to protect Second Amendment rights. To save everyone the time of reading the entire garbage pail of counter-factual lunacy, here are the key points from the manual linked below.

PREVENTING GUN VIOLENCE THROUGH EFFECTIVE MESSAGING

Key Messaging Principles:

§  ALWAYS FOCUS ON EMOTIONAL AND VALUE-DRIVEN ARGUMENTS ABOUT GUN VIOLENCE, NOT THE POLITICAL FOOD FIGHT IN WASHINGTON OR WONKY STATISTICS.

§   TELL STORIES WITH IMAGES AND FEELINGS.

§   CLAIM MORAL AUTHORITY AND THE MANTLE OF FREEDOM.

§  EMPHASIZE THAT EXTRAORDINARILY DANGEROUS, MILITARY-STYLE WEAPONS ARE NOW WITHIN EASY REACH ACROSS AMERICA.

§  EMPHASIZE THAT AMERICA HAS WEAK GUN LAWS AND DON’T ASSUME THAT PEOPLE KNOW THAT.

§  CHALLENGE THE NRA ON YOUR TERMS, NOT THEIRS.

Duty to be a Victim

Friends don't let friends become victims