Have you ever noticed the fascination that Democrats seem to have with numbers? Whether real or fictitious, usually fictitious, Democrats use numbers as both a basis for their bizarre arguments and as means of garnering support for them. And no matter what they may be talking about, you can often find yourself listening to two or more Democrats talking about the same issue but hear each of them quote different numbers supposedly related to the very same topic of discussion. And yet rarely, if ever, are Democrats ever exposed, and rarer still are they ever confronted and required to provide the least amount of proof to back up any of the numbers that they continue to throw out for general consumption. And the same goes for all of the faulty numbers currently flying around that, again according to Democrats, demand that some sort of action be taken on curbing gun violence.
I think it very safe to say that most of the numbers that the Democrats claim provide absolute proof that their side is right on this gun issue, a significant percentage of them long ago passed their 'Sell By' date. And perhaps none is used more prominently than the claim that somehow fully 40 percent of gun sales still take place without any background checks. This little jewel has been misquoted by just about everybody these days and has been cited as being gospel by all manner of public figures and gun-control nuts, including Barry "Almighty" himself. But the truth of the matter is that it's nearly a 20 year-old statistic that, when it was conjured up, was not much more than an educated guess. So rather than do any actual research, once again Democrats latch onto a number that they think strengthens their argument and they run with it. It matters very little whether it’s accurate.
Look, even those who are strong on gun-rights freely admit that criminals are able to get their hands on guns, and do so primarily from the off-the-books market. But no one, NO ONE, knows how many guns skirt the criminal-check system by taking place at gun shows, in private transactions or otherwise outside the regulated channels. Public policy research is scarce on the subject. And what we have to realize here, is that just because Democrats can spew numbers, even with a certain air of confidence, that does not make the numbers that they are "quoting" in any way correct or reliable. Democrats lie and Democrats distort and yet they are never called on it by our stellar state-controlled media clowns. Democrats are absolutely salivating over what they see as being a prime opportunity that would allow them to rip guns from the hands of law-abiding citizen.
For example:
BARRY "ALMIGHTY", on Jan. 16: "It’s time for Congress to require a universal background check for anyone trying to buy a gun. The law already requires licensed gun dealers to run background checks, and over the last 14 years that’s kept 1.5 million of the wrong people from getting their hands on a gun. But it’s hard to enforce that law when as many as 40 percent of all gun purchases are conducted without a background check. That’s not safe. That’s not smart. It’s not fair to responsible gun buyers or sellers."
MAYORS AGAINST ILLEGAL GUNS, a coalition favoring tighter gun controls, on Tuesday: "Around 40 percent of U.S. gun transfers are conducted by unlicensed `private sellers’ who are not required to conduct a federal check, and who often do business at gun shows and on the Internet."
NEW YORK MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, on Dec. 17: "Congress should pass the Fix Gun Checks Act, which would close the `private sale loophole’ that allows more than 40 percent of gun sales to go through without a background check."
REP. DAVID CICILLINE, D-R.I., on Jan. 26: "More than 40 percent of sales nationally are made without background checks."
VICE PRESIDENT 'SLOW JOE' BIDEN, on Jan.17: "Because of the lack of the ability of federal agencies to be able to even keep records, we can’t say with absolute certainty what I’m about to say is correct. But the consensus is about 40 percent of the people who buy guns today do so outside the … background check system."
And now in doing my own little rendition of Joe Friday, I would like to take this opportunity to present what are actually the facts, and just the facts as they relate to at at least this particular number:
First off, and frankly I’m amazed that I’m even saying this, old 'Slow Joe' Biden stands pretty much alone here in acknowledging that he may just be saying something that isn’t quite right. However, everyone else who has proceeded to throw the number around has provided no such disclaimer when doing so, they simply spewed the number out as if it is an accurate reflection of how things are in 2013. But there is less than meets the eye here in that claims that gun sales made without background checks comprise "more than," "as many as," "nearly" or "about" 40 percent of all gun sales are actually rooted in a poll looking broadly at gun ownership in America. Sponsored by the Justice Department through a grant to the Police Foundation, the poll’s principal relevance today is as a snapshot of the way things were when it was taken. Which was back in 1994, nearly 20 years ago.
This specific bit of research reported on the nature of gun acquisitions made in 1993 and 1994, and asked people who had obtained guns 'back then' where the guns had come from and whether they thought the source was a federally licensed dealer. Although the survey interviewed more than 2,500 people, just 251 had acquired guns during that specific timeframe, which is a too small sampling from anybody would be able to make any sort of a general conclusion. In all, 64 percent of those respondents reported acquiring a gun from a source they thought to be a licensed dealer, suggesting that 36 percent of gun acquisitions were in the secondary and unregulated market. But the study’s researchers found considerable ambiguity and some apparent contradictions in the responses. So essentially not much in the way of useful information was gained.
So with a clear picture being somewhat elusive, it was then estimated that 30 percent to 40 percent of the acquisitions were off the books and would not have been subjected to any background check. Hence we have what essentially nothing more than a SWAG, or a Scientific Wild Ass Guess, that has now been turned into a number spouted as gospel. And it just ain't so. More than 17 percent of guns acquired in 1993 and 1994 came from a family member, according to this same poll – a source of weapons that would remain largely unregulated in pending Senate legislation calling for expanded checks. Discounting family acquisitions, the percentage of gun transactions eluding background checks – whatever that figure actually is – would be considerably less. But still the Democrats insist upon throw around a number that is completely meaningless.
The statement made by that illustrious little gaggle known as the coalition of mayors took it upon itself to follow a Senate Judiciary Committee vote along partisan lines Tuesday to expand background checks. In contending that 40 percent of gun transfers are conducted by private sellers, often "at gun shows and on the Internet," the mayors used what they knew was essentially bogus information and presented it as being an accurate representation of what's occurring today. In other words, they knowingly lied. They cited the same old study that everyone else has, one that was done back in 1994. So in failing to be able to come up with any information that was actually current and that would support their desire to squash the Second Amendment, they, instead, used information from roughly 20 years ago. It's just more propaganda.
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