Fact Checking Biden: "Guns are the number one killer of children"

[Rafe]

A fact check on Uncle Joe and his handlers, and a lesson on how to spin atrocious tragedies to one's political benefit. I had time on my hands this evening and this turned very long very quickly. My apologies for that, but it's stuff I needed to get off my chest and out on the internet.

First, do this: Without taking a lot of time to think about it, what age range would you consider to be "children"?

You probably saw the news yesterday that a procession of 52 school buses carrying photos and belongings of school shooting victims first drove to Ted Cruz's home in Houston, and then circled around his downtown office protesting for tougher gun laws to prevent the death of children due to gun violence. Here's a photo from inside one of the buses. See if the kids depicted match your ages for "children." I'll bet they do:



The protest has the gall to put black memorial banners on the buses and label each bus, "NRA Children's Museum." See their website, if you want, at https://www.nrachildrensmuseum.com/home, complete with a photo of how, if they have the space, they like to arrange the 52 buses to represent an AR-15.

The front-and-center statement on their website: "Since 2020, firearms have overtaken car accidents to become the leading cause of death in children, taking over 4368 lives."

During his (teleprompted) speech last Monday, Joe Biden's core talking point was, and I quote (though without the slurred speech): "Guns are the number one killer of children in the United States of America. Let me say that again: Guns are the number one killer of children in the United States. More than car accidents. More than cancer."

So, are those statements true? Turns out, as you've probably guessed, it depends on how you define "children."

Up front, we need to be clear that there are no such mortality figures for 2022, and in fact last May 19 The New England Journal of Medicine published a very brief letter to the editor, "Current Causes of Death in Children and Adolescents in the United States," which displayed numbers aggregated from the CDC for 2020 data. Searching high and low, it seems we as yet have no definitive mortality figures for 2021 yet, either.

See also, "Fact Check: Joe Biden Says Guns Are Biggest Killer of American Children," Newsweek, July 13, 2022, which rules that the president's statement is true. Newsweek references an April 28, 2022, publication by The Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, which also reviews 2020 data.

So in front of the hyperbole, we have to understand that the "NRA Children's Museum" claims and the statement of our illustrious president are based on 2020 data.

This push to never let a tragedy go to waste comes right after the Uvalde school shooting, by an 18-year-old, who coldly executed 19 10-year-old kids and two teachers. After the very publicized deaths of a classroom full of 10-year-olds in an elementary school, when the president goes on national media and says that "Guns are the number one killer of children in the United States," what age group do you think the public is envisioning?

Yeah. No. Turns out the clue is in the title of that New England Journal of Medicine publication, "Current Causes of Death in Children and Adolescents in the United States." Let's look at what the CDC itself shows as the leading causes of child death by age on its FastStats "Child Health" webpage, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/child-health.htm, note that the data stops as of age 14:

Children aged 1-4 years

1. Accidents (unintentional injuries)
2. Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities
3. Assault (homicide)

Children aged 5-9 years

1. Accidents (unintentional injuries)
2. Cancer
3. Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities

Children aged 10-14 years

1. Accidents (unintentional injuries)
2. Intentional self-harm (suicide)
3. Cancer

Wait. Where are all those gun deaths if [repeat the line] "Guns are the number one killer of children in the United States"? Turns out the data the president and the anti-gunners are touting really don't show gun deaths as a specific, significant factor until we get to age 15 and over...and the data he and the gun grabbers are representing go all the way up to age 19. How many 19-year-olds do you look at and think "child"? In fact, the Johns Hopkins publication lumps the ages from 1 to 14, then 15 to 24:



I'm struggling to think of any school mass shootings in recent memory that targeted predominantly Black schools. We had the tragedy last May in Buffalo where another unhinged 18-year-old shooter--this time clearly a hate crime--committed the atrocity, killing 10 Black people and injuring three others. But the victims ranged in age from 32 to 86; all but the 32-year-old was over 50. And in June 2015 yet another unhinged racist, this time 21 years old, murdered nine Black worshipers at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The youngest victim was 26; the next youngest 41; and the oldest 87.

The racial disparity in that Johns Hopkins graph in gun homicide rates per 100,000 is stark. But if the volume isn't in the 1 to 14 age group, which it clearly is not, it begs the question of Biden's blanket reference to "children."

The data are stale from the government's Office of Justice Program's National Gang Center, but for the period 1996 through 2011 the percentage of active, criminal gang members under 18 was, on average, almost 40%. The 18 and over category still includes, of course, two years of what Biden referred to as "children," and we can probably infer fairly safely that the 19 and under demographic makes up about half of all criminal gang members:



For 2012 the estimate was that there were 30,700 known gangs operating in the U.S., roughly equal to the 30,800 in 1996, with a decline to a low of 24,700 in 2000. Estimated membership numbers held fairly steady over those years:



About 850,000 estimated active members of known criminal gangs; if half of them are 19 years old and younger, then we have around 425,000 in that age group. That's less than the total population of El Paso, but more than Arlington, Corpus Christi, Plano, or Laredo. A sizeable number.

With fewer and fewer police agencies--particularly those in large metropolitan areas run by liberal democrats--opting in to sharing data for the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, unfortunately those data are becoming less and less useful. The last complete-year data set for the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) is for 2020, so at least it correlates to the information from the referenced New England Journal of Medicine and Johns Hopkins publications.

The age ranges for the NIBRS don't go below age 10, but for all homicides in 2020, a total of 11,635 (as reported to the FBI NIBRS), 49.5% of the time the offenders were 29 years old or younger; 15.2% of the time they were 19 years old or younger. This roughly approximates the victims' ages, as well: 43% 29 or younger and 12.2% 19 or younger.

Addressing the notion that school shootings are rampant and pervasive, the FBI's 2020 statistics on where the victim was killed are illuminating. By ranking of all homicides, with many omitted for space:

1) Residence or Home: 49.6%
2) Highway/Alley/Street/Sidewalk: 25.3%
3) Parking Garage/Lot: 8.4%
4) Unknown: 3.2%
5) Field/Woods: 2.1%
6) Hotel/Motel: 2.0%
10) Park/Playground: 0.94%
21) Church/Synagogue/Temple/Mosque: 0.12%
25) School Elementary/Secondary: 0.086%
35) School College/University: 0.038%

Based on the NIBRS data, about 35.1% of all homicides were directly linked to a simultaneous crime, from weapon law violations to robbery to narcotics violations.

The detailed, by-weapon data from the NIBRS for 2020 show a total of 12,144 homicides on file. Of those, 71.6% involved use of a firearm, and 3.34% involved the identified use of a rifle, semi-auto or not (however, only 77 of those were identified as a semi-auto firearm)...with the caveat that in some instances the implement was identified only as "Firearm."

For 2021, thanks in large part to the unrestricted and uncontrolled Biden Border and the increasing danger posed by fentanyl, the CDC reported that the U.S. had exceeded 100,000 overdose deaths for the first time ever, reaching a total of 107,000, an increase of 15% over the previous record. Deaths attributed to fentanyl alone topped 71,000.

Estimates are all over the place with no definitive answer, but at the low end estimates are that there 434 million firearms in civilian hands in the U.S., with about 20 million AR-15s and variants, with over 71 million pistol magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds and over 80 million rifle magazines capable of holding 30 or more rounds. Others have speculated that the total number of civilian-owned firearms could be closer to 600 million, and that the Stoner AR variants account for as many as 118 million, with AK variants between 30 and 50 million. I find the latter much easier to believe than the 20 million figure.

Yet, despite the number of modern sporting rifles legally purchased and owned, FBI NIBRS data show that a total of 406 homicide incidents in 2020 involved use of a rifle of any kind. With 406 homicide incidents by rifle and 107,000 deaths by drug overdose, clearly the focus on legislation, control, and enforcement needs to be on rifles. That fits the left's agenda and the ultimate desire to have a completely unarmed and compliant population. The massive number of overdose deaths due to the porous Biden Border? Not a problem! The left wants the illegal immigrants to continue coming here in droves so that they can presumably weight the vote to the dem's side of the equation.

Crime is the problem, not guns. It's the perpetrator, not the tool. Gun crimes are actually occurring with the greatest volumes predominantly in cities that have the most stringent and restrictive gun laws. Preliminary information says that homicides have increased 7% nationwide in 2021 over 2020. By total number of homicides those cities are, in order: Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Detroit, Indianapolis, and Washington DC. For 2021, Chicago reported 797 homicides, up from 771 in 2020; New York was, relatively speaking, a distant 2nd with 485 homicides, up from 468 in 2020.

There are more than 12.3 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. for every homicide with a firearm of any kind. There are 8.2 deaths just from fentanyl for every firearm homicide.

Enforce current laws. Fix the border. Crack down on gang violence. Boost funding for police departments, don't defund them. Get rid of soft-on-crime prosecutors and judges; force them to work with law enforcement, not willfully hinder it. It's open season for criminals in many cities because they know they'll be able to walk away with nothing but a wrist-slap, even for serious, violent offenses. Improve mental health services and their availability. Don't put parents who want the best for their kids on a federal watch list and ignore the nimrods who continually post violent and threatening material to social media. Try it the other way around.

Clean up crime and you'll dramatically lower deaths, homicides from firearms included. Attacking the Constitution of the United States of America and the Bill of Rights is not the answer. Over 100 million modern sporting rifles that are in law-abiding hands have, unjustifiably, killed fewer people than Alec Baldwin has. The tool is not causing deaths. Crime is causing deaths. Felons aren't obtaining firearms legally by strolling into a licensed dealer and asking for advice on what gun to use in an upcoming gang blooding; they're stealing the guns.

This was an independent fact check of President Biden's statement, "Guns are the number one killer of children in the United States." It is not the opinion of the Texas CHL Forum or any of its owners, operators, or moderators.

My verdict is: false. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines child as, "A human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier." And the statistics used to support the statement used individuals as old as 19.

However, in America, 15 U.S. Code, Chapter 91, §6501 says, "The term 'child' means an individual under the age of 13." In the U.S., a person can petition for emancipation--meaning assuming legal adulthood--at age 16. In terms of the law you are an adult at 18, though for crimes like murder 16- and 17-year-olds can be automatically tried as adults. The gun homicide rates published by the CDC and Johns Hopkins University make it starkly clear that guns are not the number one killer of children in this country.

[AF-Odin]

Rafe,
Great post. Thanks for gathering the data. Continues to show that the gun-grabbers will use any emotional sway they can. Unfortunately, most of the media including my local NBC affiliate jumped on it with their "Fact Check" and stated that what the President stated is "completely true."

[Paladin]

"For the children"..."For our safety"... "For our security" are all heavily misused phrases of oppression. There is even a restricted field manual stating that when the military is occupying a country you should explain everything in exactly those terms. The FM was leaked online.

[Paladin]

FM 31-20-3 FOREIGN INTERNAL DEFENSE TACTICS, TECHNIQUES, AND PROCEDURES FOR SPECIAL FORCES

Psychological Operations. PSYOP are essential to the success of {Populace and Resources Control} PRC. For maximum
effectiveness, a strong psychological operations effort is directed toward the
families of the insurgents and their popular support base. The PSYOP aspect of the
PRC program tries to make the imposition of control more palatable to the people
by relating the necessity of controls to their safety and well-being.

FM 3-05.130 Army Special Operations Forces Unconventional Warfare

PSYOP Soldiers developed a recruiting and retention video...The video portrayed the soldier writing in the letter to his father that, despite his
discomfort with his surroundings and training, he remained committed to the security
and safety of his family and tribe that the new army would afford them in the coming
months.

[philip964]

Great analysis thank you!

[gamboolman]

Rafe,

Great Post and response. Thank you for that.

Can we reference or "Link" this Post on other Internet Forums for use in discussions with others ?

Thanks, gamboolman....

[Rafe]

Rafe,

Great Post and response. Thank you for that.

Can we reference or "Link" this Post on other Internet Forums for use in discussions with others ?

Thanks, folks. I am actually shocked you guys took the time to read that whole thing.

If anyone fact-checks my fact-check and finds something in error or misstated, please let me know. But I put it here so that it would be on a public forum. So long as Charles and the moderators have no problem with it staying here, link away and/or quote freely.

It bothered me on Monday when I heard Biden say it, but then it really got under my skin with the whole "NRA Children's Museum" thing and the local Houston news coverage they got for hitting Ted Cruz's home and office. Nothing should downplay or lessen the impact of what happened in Uvalde, or in Michigan in November 2021, or Santa Clarita, California, in 2019, or in any of the other incidents where an unhinged and mentally unstable individual targeted young people in a school...a target-rich environment because the victims are defenseless and the security measures--since they are defenseless--are insufficient.

However, an 18-year-old criminal gang-banger is not a child. A 19-year-old junior in college is not a child. Referencing them as such not only does a disservice to the memory of child victims, like those in Uvalde, but it's beyond the pale of disingenuity to the American people for the sitting president to foist that message, without clarification, in a blatant attempt to move the political talking points in front of the midterms away from his repeated and perennial failures.

If we use the CDC and Johns Hopkins University publications to draw the line defining a "child" as 14 years old and younger, mass shootings targeting random children in schools remain rare. The mainstream media and those who would dismantle the 2nd Amendment would have us believe they are monthly occurrences, killing thousands of children each year. Before Uvalde, that incident in Oxford Township, Michigan, was the last; the shooter was 15 years old, four people died, but the investigation still hasn't determined if it targeted specific people at the Oxford High School. That 15-year-old certainly didn't obtain a firearm legally. Because of the shooter's age I fudged my "child" definition by a year. Likewise, the Santa Clarita, California, incident November 14, 2019, was at a high school; the shooter was 16; immediately after shooting six people he attempted suicide: clearly mentally unstable and in possession of a firearm illegally. We can go back to December 2018 and the strange case of 14-year-old Brandon Clegg. In that one, at Dennis Intermediate School, no one was injured but Clegg himself. He stole two handguns and forced his mother's ex-boyfriend to drive Clegg to the school by threatening to kill him. A 911 call was placed; police arrived quickly. After exchanging gunfire with the LEOs, Clegg ended up cornered in one of the school's stairwells and committed suicide.

If one takes the time to research these past events, the truth will come out: almost none involve "child" victims.

Congress defines a "mass killing" as three or more people killed in a single incident, not including the perpetrator. There is no commonly agreed-upon criteria to define a "mass shooting," but most media outlets as well as the Gun Violence Archive use the requirement that "four or more people are shot or killed in a single incident, not including the shooter." The FBI uses neither classification, but tracks "active shooter incidents," which it defines as "one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area." Notably, they also exclude shootings that are determined to include, among a few other things, self defense, gang-related violence, drug-related violence, and crossfire as a byproduct of another ongoing criminal act.

You can obtain the FBI's 2021 report (published May 24, 2022) here: https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/act ... 2.pdf/view. The 2020 report (published July 1, 2021) is here: Active Shooter Incidents in the United ... 1.pdf/view. In 2021, two incidents that took place in a school or on school grounds met the FBI's criteria for an "active shooter incident," one at a middle school (Rigby, Idaho; a 6th-grade female student wounded two students and a custodian) and one at a high school (the Oxford Township incident). Both shooters were students at the schools; one shooter was 12 and one was 15: no legally obtained firearms.

As for the notion that such active shooter incidents are claiming inordinately more victims now than in previous years, the FBI reports the following total numbers of casualties:

• 2016: 214 - 83 killed, 131 wounded
• 2017: 734 - 143 killed, 591 wounded (includes the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada)
• 2018: 225 - 86 killed, 139 wounded
• 2019: 258 - 102 killed, 156 wounded
• 2020: 164 - 38 killed, 126 wounded
• 2021: 243 - 103 killed, 140 wounded

Of course even a single such incident is one too many, but I think it's reasonable to take into account the 2021 population of the U.S., estimated at 331.89 million. Conversely, what are the numbers for people dying in motor vehicle crashes in those same years?

• 2016: 37,806
• 2017: 37,473
• 2018: 36,835
• 2019: 36,355
• 2020: 38,824
• 2021: 42,915

So in the past six years, 230,208 Americans have died in vehicle crashes; 555 have died in active shooter incidents. That's one person shot for every 414.8 that died in a car crash.

Let's consider the traffic death rates of children age 14 and younger as published by the CDC; no data that I can readily find past 2019, so I'll use 2019 plus the five years prior:

• 2014: 1,083
• 2015: 1,159
• 2016: 1,261
• 2017: 1,207
• 2018: 1,073
• 2019: 1,110

From Statista, here are the total firearm deaths deaths for 2019--all causes including accidental, suicide, and homicide--broken down by age group:



So we have 1,110 14-and-under deaths by vehicular accident in 2019, and 510 total firearm-related deaths. Automobile accidents alone account for 2.2 times the number of child deaths as do firearms. Referring again to the CDC leading causes of death, from ages 5 to 9 they are: 1) Accidents (unintentional injuries); 2) Cancer; 3) Congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities. For ages 10 to 14: 1) Accidents (unintentional injuries); 2) Intentional self-harm (suicide); 3) Cancer. Homicide by firearm is not on the list.

[philip964]

https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-joe ... en-1723964

Newsweek does a fact check on Xiden’s statement.

https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/c ... -rcna31617

NBC looks a little harder at the facts.

[Paladin]

https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-joe ... en-1723964

Newsweek does a fact check on Xiden’s statement.

https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/c ... -rcna31617

NBC looks a little harder at the facts.

The media is little more than propaganda at this point. The growing number of firearms deaths has something to do with the recent increases in murders due to Left wing Soros DA's not locking up violent criminals.

Soros Prosecutors Run Half of America’s Largest Jurisdictions

How George Soros funded progressive ‘legal arsonist’ DAs behind US crime surge

Critics say the policies of Soros-funded DAs, which have included abolishing bail and, in the case of Chicago, placing hundreds of violent criminals on electronic tracking systems, have led to a spike in crime throughout the country. According to the FBI’s annual Uniform Crime Report released in September, the country saw a 30 percent increase in homicides in 2020 — the largest single-year spike since they began recording crime statistics 60 years ago. The report also saw a 24 percent decrease in arrests across the country.

Everywhere Soros-backed prosecutors go, crime follows,” said Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton in a statement to The Post. “These legal arsonists have abandoned their duty to public safety by pursuing leniency even for the most heinous crime, and they often flat-out refuse to charge criminals for shoplifting, vagrancy and entire categories of misdemeanors.”

Leftists are literally creating the problem!!!

[philip964]

https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-joe ... en-1723964

Newsweek does a fact check on Xiden’s statement.

https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/c ... -rcna31617

NBC looks a little harder at the facts.

The media is little more than propaganda at this point. The growing number of firearms deaths has something to do with the recent increases in murders due to Left wing Soros DA's not locking up violent criminals.

Soros Prosecutors Run Half of America’s Largest Jurisdictions

How George Soros funded progressive ‘legal arsonist’ DAs behind US crime surge

Critics say the policies of Soros-funded DAs, which have included abolishing bail and, in the case of Chicago, placing hundreds of violent criminals on electronic tracking systems, have led to a spike in crime throughout the country. According to the FBI’s annual Uniform Crime Report released in September, the country saw a 30 percent increase in homicides in 2020 — the largest single-year spike since they began recording crime statistics 60 years ago. The report also saw a 24 percent decrease in arrests across the country.

Everywhere Soros-backed prosecutors go, crime follows,” said Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton in a statement to The Post. “These legal arsonists have abandoned their duty to public safety by pursuing leniency even for the most heinous crime, and they often flat-out refuse to charge criminals for shoplifting, vagrancy and entire categories of misdemeanors.”

Leftists are literally creating the problem!!!

By design, on purpose.

[Paladin]

https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-joe ... en-1723964

Newsweek does a fact check on Xiden’s statement.

https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/c ... -rcna31617

NBC looks a little harder at the facts.

The media is little more than propaganda at this point. The growing number of firearms deaths has something to do with the recent increases in murders due to Left wing Soros DA's not locking up violent criminals.

Soros Prosecutors Run Half of America’s Largest Jurisdictions

How George Soros funded progressive ‘legal arsonist’ DAs behind US crime surge

Critics say the policies of Soros-funded DAs, which have included abolishing bail and, in the case of Chicago, placing hundreds of violent criminals on electronic tracking systems, have led to a spike in crime throughout the country. According to the FBI’s annual Uniform Crime Report released in September, the country saw a 30 percent increase in homicides in 2020 — the largest single-year spike since they began recording crime statistics 60 years ago. The report also saw a 24 percent decrease in arrests across the country.

Everywhere Soros-backed prosecutors go, crime follows,” said Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton in a statement to The Post. “These legal arsonists have abandoned their duty to public safety by pursuing leniency even for the most heinous crime, and they often flat-out refuse to charge criminals for shoplifting, vagrancy and entire categories of misdemeanors.”

Leftists are literally creating the problem!!!

By design, on purpose.

[Rafe]

The media is little more than propaganda at this point. The growing number of firearms deaths has something to do with the recent increases in murders due to Left wing Soros DA's not locking up violent criminals.

Soros Prosecutors Run Half of America’s Largest Jurisdictions

How George Soros funded progressive ‘legal arsonist’ DAs behind US crime surge

Critics say the policies of Soros-funded DAs, which have included abolishing bail and, in the case of Chicago, placing hundreds of violent criminals on electronic tracking systems, have led to a spike in crime throughout the country. According to the FBI’s annual Uniform Crime Report released in September, the country saw a 30 percent increase in homicides in 2020 — the largest single-year spike since they began recording crime statistics 60 years ago. The report also saw a 24 percent decrease in arrests across the country.

Everywhere Soros-backed prosecutors go, crime follows,” said Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton in a statement to The Post. “These legal arsonists have abandoned their duty to public safety by pursuing leniency even for the most heinous crime, and they often flat-out refuse to charge criminals for shoplifting, vagrancy and entire categories of misdemeanors.”

Leftists are literally creating the problem!!!

That. The heart of the problem. If you have useless DAs and irresponsible judges giving violent criminals what are, essentially, get-out-of-jail-free cards, what else could be expected but that crime would increase? Basically we have a manufactured opportunity, for political gain, to be able to point to increasing violent crime and scream, "Gun violence! It's all because of guns!" And almost universally the Soros-backed prosecutors are in cities with bright Blue mayors and city councils. If that--and the post-George-Floyd-the-multiple-times-convicted-felon public outcry to defund the police--weren't enough, we also typically have bright Blue, politically-motivated chiefs of police in the same large cities with leftist mayors, DAs, and city councils.

It's probably the more dangerous trickle-down situation the country faces. Witness Seattle this month: https://www.foxnews.com/media/seattle-s ... 0-officers. They've had some 400 cops leave the force since the "Summer of Love" lawless fiasco in 2020; 103 officers have left just this year alone, 12 just last week.

A difficult and very dangerous job where their superiors and their executive and judicial infrastructure don't support them; the pay for the work is in no way commensurate to the workload, skill, and danger involved; and then throw in a national political agenda that smiles on the public treating you like you're contaminated sewer scum because you chose to dedicate your life to protecting them.

Yeah. Sign me up for that job! We have a very serious, widespread, and deeply pervasive problem on our hands. I won't comment on the LEO activity in the Uvalde situation, but enforcement of the law has to start on the ground. If you turn the job into something that no one wants, you won't attract the best and the brightest, and even if you do you'll keep them forever with one hand tied behind their backs and in a state of constant depression: understaffed, underfunded departments make good arrests only to see the violent criminal actor get a $100 PR bond and walk out to go commit more crimes. Meanwhile, in almost every large city and its surroundings, gang violence is increasing dramatically (just do a few Google searches constrained to info from the past year) while the number of law enforcement officers on the ground is decreasing.

Back to the "children" definition, on average 2 out of every 5 active gang members are under the age of 18; in large cities and well-established gangs, the age averages are slightly higher. In 2012, with only 829 agencies nationwide reporting gang homicide statistics, there were 2,363 killings directly attributed to gang violence. Remember that in 2019 the CDC showed a total of 510 deaths of any type among children 14 and under involving a firearm.

Trying to remove legally-owned semi-automatics rifles from law-abiding hands won't do statistically anything to save the lives of children who are actually children, not 19-year-olds. You want to help save the lives of all children and adolescents and young adults? Try enforcing and prosecuting the existing laws. Vote the leftist mayors and prosecutors and judges out of office. We need to drain the swamp in Washington, but most of our largest cities are political cesspools, too. Try cleaning up the streets and making felons face stiff penalties, not walk away on a PR bond and a ridiculous bail amount.

[Rafe]

Still in keeping with Biden's south lawn press conference a week ago today, the NRA-ILA followed up with an article about the dems' immediate attempts to pile-on to the perceived "anti-gun" success and push additional, ridiculous legislation:

Never Enough: Congressional Democrats Ignore the Constitution and Reality to Push Futile Gun Ban
https://www.nraila.org/articles/2022071 ... le-gun-ban

The ink on the so-called “Bipartisan Safer Communities Act,” passed over the NRA’s objection, is barely dry. And the same can be said for the U.S. Supreme Court’s latest pronouncement on the Second Amendment, which reinforces the principle that the right to keep and bear arms is a defining feature of American freedom and self-governance.

And yet news is now breaking [from Punchbowl.news] that Congressional Democrats are pushing the largest firearms ban in American history.

From that Punchbowl.news "Top News" page:

Breaking: The House Judiciary Committee will mark up an assault weapons ban next Wednesday, we can report exclusively.

This is a big deal. The Judiciary Committee hasn’t voted on an assault weapons ban in nearly 30 years – since 1994 – when a decade-long federal prohibition was signed into law. That ban ended a decade later.

The Judiciary Committee will vote on Rep. David Cicilline’s (D-R.I.) assault weapons bill, H.R. 1808. Earlier this week the House passed a separate bill by Cicilline that would create an “active shooter alert” program similar to the Amber alert system.

The Cicilline bill – which currently has 211 Democratic co-sponsors and no Republicans – would make it illegal for anyone to “import, sell, manufacture, or transfer” semi-automatic rifles that have certain “military features.” These features include a “detachable magazine” or “a fixed magazine with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds.” Semi-automatic pistols and shotguns with similar features would also be covered.

They quoted Cicilline:

AR-15 style firearms have become the weapon of choice for shooters looking to kill as many people as possible as quickly as possible and have been used in the deadliest mass shootings in our history, from Sandy Hook to Parkland to Uvalde… How many more kids need to die in their schools before we finally crack down on these dangerous firearms which were designed for war?

And from one of our favorites, one of the two dozen most useless dems who ever spoke on the House floor:

It is beyond frightening and disturbing that a weapon that was designed as a tool of war has found its way into the hands of 18-year-olds and onto our streets. Any weapon that allows for the quick and efficient slaughter of children in our schools has no place in our communities. This markup is another step in our efforts to make our communities safer. I look forward to moving this legislation through the Judiciary Committee next week and onto the House floor.

And to finish this post with an example that these people look at none of the actual facts, just repeat mantras that support their political agenda, we have... Wait for it...

There is great support in our caucus for an assault weapons ban. It’s about our children. More children die from gun violence each year than cancer, car accidents, anything. How can that be?

It can't be, Nancy. And it isn't. If words and numbers don't get through to you, look through some of the Google Images of mugshots of 19-year-olds and tell me how many of them look like "children" to you.

[Rafe]

Just a short follow-up from Houston news today relating to "children" and crime:

2 young suspects charged after 17-year-old girl hit in the face by stray bullet in W. Houston
https://abc13.com/houston-teen-shot-17- ... /12076649/

Corey Hodge, 18, and Kaylen Sabbath, 17, are charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

The shooting happened around 5:15 p.m. on May 1 at an apartment building located at 2800 South Dairy Ashford....

Police said the suspects were seen running away from the scene.

After further investigation, Hodge and Sabbath were identified as the suspects in the shooting.

Both suspects were already in custody in the Harris County Jail on unrelated charges, according to HPD.

According to court records, Hodge was charged with murder in April of 2021.

Well, you know. Kids will be kids!

[Paladin]

Just a short follow-up from Houston news today relating to "children" and crime:

2 young suspects charged after 17-year-old girl hit in the face by stray bullet in W. Houston
https://abc13.com/houston-teen-shot-17- ... /12076649/

Corey Hodge, 18, and Kaylen Sabbath, 17, are charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

The shooting happened around 5:15 p.m. on May 1 at an apartment building located at 2800 South Dairy Ashford....

Police said the suspects were seen running away from the scene.

After further investigation, Hodge and Sabbath were identified as the suspects in the shooting.

Both suspects were already in custody in the Harris County Jail on unrelated charges, according to HPD.

According to court records, Hodge was charged with murder in April of 2021.

Well, you know. Kids will be kids!

Mercy to the guilty is cruelty to the innocent