Arguably the most controversial aspect of Phil Murphy’s latest round of anti-2A proposals announced Thursday was a ban on shotgun and rifle purchases for New Jersey adults under age 21. All .50 caliber weapons would be banned outright. Constitutional objections aside… are these proposals logical? Assuming the goal is to stop a surge in urban shootings?
Let’s examine the facts:
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Hanguns were the weapon of choice in 78% of the 121 U.S. “mass shootings” between 1982 and March 2021. Only 1 in 5 incidents involved a shotgun.
What about routine shootings and other crimes committed with guns? In 2019, the Department of Justice took a substantive look at the guns used in crimes and where they came from. Needless to say, the findings aren’t helpful for the Murphy Administration.
“An estimated 287,400 prisoners had possessed a firearm during their offense,” explained the researchers. “Among these, more than half (56%) had either stolen it (6%), found it at the scene of the crime (7%), or obtained it off the street or from the underground market (43%). Most of the remainder (25%) had obtained it from a family member or friend, or as a gift. Seven percent had purchased it under their own name from a licensed firearm dealer.”
7% folks! Only 7 out of 100 prisoners who used a gun while committing a crime purchased their weapon legally.
The opposite is true of mass shootings; most mass shooting firearms ARE purchased legally. But, again, a relatively small percentage of stastically rare mass shootings involve the sort of weapons addressed by Phil Murphy’s new gun control measures. Mass shooters are generally employing handguns.
The Governor’s bills would accomplish little-to-nothing towards stopping a drug dealer or gang member in Paterson or Atlantic City from “finding” a handgun and killing someone. That’s a cold, hard fact rooted in the data. And aren’t we supposed to be following data, Phil?
Let’s not beat around the bush. Murphy and his fellow Dems would have you believe they care about keeping urban New Jersey safe. That’s complete bullshit. Their party’s policies created urban warzones where generations of Americans live in heightened peril. Murphy’s gun control measures won’t save a single life in Newark, Trenton, Camden, or any of our state’s other cities. They will make white suburban liberals feel super good about themselves for having “done something” about gun violence.
We’re already one of America’s most gun-restricted states. It’s obvious what’s going on here. Murphy & Co. made a political calculation, not a public safety one: gun control bills in election years make for good headlines.
What would actually help keep people alive? Supporting our law enforcement instead of indulging anti-police “defund” movements, but that’s not in vogue right now on the Left. A recent “clean up to a clean up” bill concerning youth marijuana and alcohol possession subjects police officers to CRIMINAL liability if an officer relies upon either the odor or possession of marijuana or booze to stop someone.
Your rights and safety < political realities, folks. Every damn time.
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