The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and comedy video website Funny or Die released a video yesterday that asserts that certain states are complicit in gun crime and trafficking due to their gun laws.
Take a look:
Oh, where to begin? For starters:
- Felons are not permitted to (legally) carry guns in any location.
- Criminals looking to commit crimes generally won't submit themselves to background checks they're aware they won't pass, nor does a perspective mass murderer really give a hoot about respecting gun laws.
- Background checks would do nothing to prevent a crime committed by someone with no criminal history.
CrimAdvisor.com is set up similar to a travel planning website, and each state has a page highlighting the "benefits" of going there as a criminal. My home state, Maine, is listed as "high" and "contributing to the national gun violence problem." In 2014, Maine had a total of 20 homicides--not all of which were committed by guns. Maine has one of the lowest gun fatality rates in the country, in contrast to the "F" rating given to the state by the Brady Campaign. Clearly, something other than the stripping of Second Amendment rights is preventing Mainers from shooting each other.
Furthermore, Massachusetts, which has fairly strict gun control laws, saw crime increase after its laws were passed. While some guns found at the scene of crimes in Massachusetts were indeed trafficked in from Maine, a substantial number of guns were from faraway states like California and Georgia. Point being, when a person wants to commit a crime, they will not be hampered by gun laws to do so.
This is hardly the first time an anti-gun group has lied or exaggerated statistics in an attempt to scare people in to action. The Center for American Progress made the hysterical assertion that "gun violence and gun crime are prevalent in Maine," and claimed that 113 people were killed as the result of "gun-related violence" in the state in 2010. When one thinks of "gun-related violence," images of a murderer or drive-by shooting generally spring to mind. Given that in 2010 the state only had 24 total homicides (not all of which involved guns), the 113 number must include suicides and accidents. (A tactic, which, sadly, isn't uncommon.) While suicide is very tragic, it's misleading (at best) to include people who killed themselves with a gun on the same level as people who were murdered by one.
Thankfully, most people don't appear to have been fooled by this insane video. On FunnyOrDie.com, where people can vote to label a video as "funny" or "die," the "die" side has an overwhelming lead.