In the wake of the unimaginable horror of mass shootings, conservative lies are becoming more common with each passing day – particularly on Facebook and other social media sites.
As of last week, there have been 355 mass shootings, and there have been 1048 people killed by police officers, and we are only 340 days into the year so far.
You would have thought that Americans would have woken up to the reality of gun violence after the unthinkable horror of the Sandy Hook Massacre of December 2012, but it seems the country’s eyes – or at least those of legislators – remain firmly closed.
In the wake of mass media manipulation by Fox News, Breitbart and other leading conservative news outlets and pundits – social media is ablaze with misinformation regarding firearm legislation.
Take for example this meme posted by a friend – along with her concern that “If this is true, I have a hard time understanding the call for more gun control. It’s already there in CA.”
I reminded my friend that her favorite president – Ronald Reagan – was tough on guns and firmly committed to the idea that assault weapons have no business in the hands of civilians.
Speaking to the meme itself, I told her the following:
Not particularly accurate. For instance, while CA. bans the sale of assault rifles and magazines over 10 rounds – they are not unlawful to possess in the state. The “may issue” for concealed weapons is fairly meaningless – as it literally means it varies by city and county and concealed carry permits are valid statewide, regardless of where they were issued. Open carry is permitted in most places in California and local sheriffs can issue permits to open carry loaded weapons.
I didn’t bother getting into the fundamental flaw with her reasoning: that just because laws don’t have a one-hundred percent success rate does not mean we abandon them. I mean – come on – by an extension of her logic that means we must abandon laws prohibiting murder, assault, robbery, rape…. Indeed, I cannot imagine one single law that would withstand such scrutiny – except for one that was signed in the last few hours.
I certainly hope my friend gets reacquainted with reality and in the meantime – get in touch with your local, state and federal elected officials and let them know what you think about the continued rash of gun violence plaguing our homes, our schools, airports, workplaces….. You might just be glad you did!
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