“Americans Want Background Checks” ... so say the media elite

by Larry S. Moore

NEWS FLASH – There is a federal background check required on all purchasers of firearms sold through gun stores which hold a Federal Firearms License (FFL). And you can't operate a gun store selling firearms without an FFL.

It seems that journalists, especially those associated with various Buckeye State universities and colleges, are coming out of the woodwork to attack the Second Amendment. If one were to believe in conspiracy theories, the flow of one-sided liberal editorials, thinly disguised as journalistic reporting, couldn't be a coincidence. If you don't believe in conspiracy theories, then the liberal journalists smell blood and are becoming embroiled in a feeding frenzy since the tragic shootings in Tucson. The blood they are willing to shed is that of the Second Amendment and American freedoms. These are two factors of the United States that distinguish us from most of the rest of the world. Of course, journalists never mention controls on their First Amendment freedoms.

In a recent Columbus Dispatch column, Ohio university Professor Guido H. Stempel relies solely on surveys sponsored by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Two organizations conducted the survey, contacting 1,015 registered voters. There is no mention of where these voters reside. I have been a registered voter for 40 years and have yet to be contacted by any polling organization asking my views on guns.

Editor's Note: Anti-gun Ohio University professors have been busy lately. Another anti-gun Ohio University professor was also recently published in The Lancaster Eagle-Gazette, and a letter to the editor by Buckeye Firearms Foundation Board of Directors member Gerard Valentino was published in response.

Bloomberg is making a full court press all over the United States on the gun issue since the Tucson tragedy. Too bad he doesn't focus as much energy and attention to solving some problems, such as snow removal, in New York City. Or perhaps the problems caused by the opossums they brought in to control the rat infestation, specifically in the borough of Brooklyn. I'm sure there are no rats where the good Mayor lives, just as he is also well protected by his hired guns.

I am an outdoor writer, with columns regularly published in several Ohio newspapers. While I know nothing of the curricula of the esteemed journalism schools, subjects such as ethics, truth and honesty must surely be omitted. It is infuriating to see these educated people using their positions, their degrees and accolades to mislead the unsuspecting general public. It is even worse when they are buying into an elitist liberal agenda that has been proven time and again to be a failure. If gun control, Mayor Bloomberg-style, worked, then New York City would be near the bottom of the FBI crime statistics. Sadly, it remains much closer to the top with almost every crime category increasing in 2010 over 2009 figures, according to the FBI reports. Rather than raising New York City to new heights, Mayor Bloomberg is bent on seeing the rest of the country dragged down to the level of New York City.

The very name, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, is interesting and misleading. Mayor Bloomberg isn't just against already illegal guns but is attempting to make illegal the very guns that protect my family (since I don't have paid bodyguards like Mayor Bloomberg does). Does the name also imply there may be some group that is "Mayors For Illegal Guns?" In this day of political correctness a few Ohio mayors have signed on with Bloomberg's group. They claim 60 Ohio mayors as members. I'm not sure how many mayors there are in Ohio. Typically, when the Mayors become educated on the true anti-gun mission of MAIG, they withdraw their support. Of course, those bastions of liberalism such as Cleveland and Columbus simply defy reason.

Typically, the liberal journalists writing these pieces do not understand firearms. The word "clips" is often misused when the author means magazines. Calls for banning high capacity magazines are at the top of the lists. Anyone who understands firearms knows that the Clinton ban on such magazines only banned the manufacture or importation of new magazines. That simply drove the price up on the existing supply. Shooters who are tactically well-trained can make magazine changes very quickly and normally without looking at either their handgun or the additional magazines. Banning high capacity magazines has done nothing to stop any crime or killing spree. Carrying additional handguns may be faster than changing magazines.

The other consistent call is for background checks. Background checks are always required when purchasing guns from a federally licensed dealer. Many of those who have gone on killing sprees purchased their guns legally, passing the background check. This leads to calls for expanding the background checks. Yet privacy laws likely will prevent the mentally ill from ever being identified in any background check system unless the court institutionalizes someone. Given the lack of mental health care available, and the state budget crunch, that is not likely to happen. So do we simply expand the background check? Should the BATFE simply add people to the list in the same manner as the TSA operates? Yeah, that route has proven effective with US Senators and children on the no-fly list.

The liberals say they want a meaningful dialog on the gun issue in the United States. That's politically correct language for "be reasonable and do things my way." If you don't believe me, just ask any of the esteemed journalists. They want our gun laws to use the same criteria that made the TV show "Family Feud" popular, "And the survey says..." While that may be popular entertainment for some, it's a horrible way to run a state or a nation!

Outdoor writer and hunter education instructor Larry S. Moore is a long-time volunteer leader for Buckeye Firearms Association and winner of the 2005 USSA Patriot Award, the 2007 League of Ohio Sportsmen/Ohio Wildlife Federation Hunter Educator of the Year and the 2010 National Wild Turkey Federation/ Women in the Outdoors Hunter Education Instructor of the Year.

Related Article:
Op-Ed: Another Mistake in The New York Times