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nChrist
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« Reply #1 on: October 04, 2017, 03:53:47 PM » |
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The Patriot Post - Alexander's Column 10-4-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA): “Thoughts and prayers are NOT enough. … We need to have the conversation about how to stop gun violence. We need it NOW.” (Actually, the “conversation” we need to have is about the ruinous Democrat policies that have spawned a culture of violence, not “gun violence.”)
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD): “It is incomprehensible that the president or others would say, 'This is not the time to debate [gun control].’ Is there ever a time to debate this, or are we so cowed by the [NRA] that we can’t even talk about this issue and figure out how we can make America safer?” (If Hoyer wanted to “make America safer,” the debate would, again, be about Democrat policies that have spawned a culture of violence. To this point, here’s a reality check on so-called “gun control23.”)
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT): “The thoughts and prayers of politicians are cruelly hollow if they are paired with continued legislative indifference.” (Thoughts and prayers … are especially “hollow” if they’re nothing more than a phony front for political assaults on our Constitution.)
And summing up the sentiments of Demo/MSM propagandists24 was this social media post from a senior CBS lawyer named Hayley Geftman-Gold: “I’m actually not even sympathetic [because] country music fans often are Republican gun toters.” (I’ve heard a lot of sickening remarks over the years, but it doesn’t get any worse than this.)
Regarding the Las Vegas assailant — unanswered questions…
Stephen Paddock, the son of a sociopathic criminal once on the FBI’s “Most Wanted” list, does not fit the profile of an Islamic assailant, though his MO certainly does. Of course, in the 60 hours since the attack, the FBI hasn’t discovered any motive, including anything that connects him with the Islamic State25, or ISIL26, which claimed a connection27.
In most instances of a mass assault, within 48 hours there is a clear emerging profile about an assailant’s narrative and motive, but not in this case. And there is no digital footprint yet, even though he filmed himself during the assault. But there is no such thing as a “lone wolf28” Jihadi attacker. So, what was the motive?
What did Paddock’s partner, Marilou Danley, a Philippine native with Islamic ties, know about the assault, and why did Paddock wire her $100,000 to the Philippines last week? She is now “a person of interest,” according to Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, and has returned to the U.S. where she has been detained by the FBI.
For several years, the Department of Homeland Security has promoted the “if you see something, say something29” campaign. Investigators will likely determine there were things to see in this case, but nobody said anything — or nobody listened. Nobody noticed that Paddock was hauling weapons and ammunition into the hotel, which he then stored in his hotel room?
Paddock chose to shoot at the crowd from 400 meters away — but would their death toll have been much greater if an assailant had driven a semi-truck into the street-level venue at high speed, as is increasingly the case in other attacks around the world?
Why did Paddock set up two shooting tripods at two adjacent broken windows when neither gave him any firing advantage point? And why so many weapons when only one or two were required for this assault?
Should there have been something in Paddock’s background checks to prevent him from legally acquiring firearms30?
For context, mortality in America by the numbers…
We can all agree that one murder in America is too many, and there is an epidemic of violence across our nation. To put that into perspective, here is some of the latest U.S. annual mortality data:
88,000 people died from alcohol-related causes.
64,000 people died from drug overdoses.
44,000 people died by suicide, many related to drug and alcohol abuse.
40,000 people died in motor vehicles crashes, about a third related to drug and alcohol abuse.
Regarding murders, the latest FBI uniform crime report31 notes there were an estimated 17,250 people murdered in the U.S. in 2016. In 70% of those cases, the assailant used a firearm. It is estimated that in less than 0.5% (one-half of 1%) of those murders, an “assault weapon” was used.
Self-defense and survival rates…
According to the most recent self-defense surveys, firearms are used for protection against an assailant some one million to 2.5 million times annually. It is fair to infer that the number of lives saved by the capacity to defend yourself with a firearm far outnumbers the murder rates…
Murder rates in “gun free” American cities…
What we can also deduce from the most recent FBI murder stats is that the 10 most dangerous cities in America with populations above 200,000 are all managed, top to bottom, by Democrats. Notably, those cities also have the most restrictive gun control policies in the nation.
Murder rates in “gun free” nations…
In Europe, where firearms are tightly regulated, there has been more bloodshed in mass attacks32 than in the U.S.
Over the eight years of the Obama administration, while the U.S. had 29 mass assaults (defined by the FBI as four or more fatalities in a public place), there were 26 in Europe — fewer attacks, but more deaths. In fact, France had more mass murder casualties33 with firearms in 2015 alone than the U.S. total for the Obama years.
For the record, if you are not a gang member or drug dealer/user, your chances of becoming a murder victim are on par with European Union nations. Oh, and in Switzerland, which has a higher concentration of “assault weapons” per capita than any nation in the world, the murder rate is one of the lowest in the world.
Regarding murder rates in Australia, where most firearms were confiscated in 1996, according to the latest firearms causation study34 by the Journal of the American Medical Association, while there was a “decline in firearm deaths between 1997 and 2013,” there was “a decline in total nonfirearm suicide and homicide deaths of a greater magnitude,” thus “it is not possible to determine whether the change in firearm deaths can be attributed to the gun law reforms.”
More guns, fewer murders…
According to Pew Research crime data35, the rate of violent crime dropped almost 50% in the decade up to 2015. At the same time, the rate of firearm sales and ownership36 has steadily increased.
Thus, as research by former Yale professor John Lott concludes, “More Guns, Less Crime37.”
Notably, however, according to the latest FBI crime stats38, violent crime in 2015 and 2016 is trending upward, due in large measure to the “Ferguson Effect39.” Police in urban areas with high crime are backing off enforcement because, after the justified shooting40 of a Ferguson, Missouri thug, national and local politicians joined Barack Obama’s war on cops41, condemning them for “racial profiling.”
Bottom line…
The bloody assault in Las Vegas, and all those that proceeded it, were not a “gun problem,” or problems with knives, vehicles, planes or bombs. These are all problems of evil. Let’s call these assailants what they are, and maybe we can begin to address the root causes of the bloody attacks as a necessary part of the dialogue on how to prevent them.
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Pro Deo et Libertate — 1776 |
