Is the Pro-Gun Movement Funding the Anti-Gun Protests?

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By Kevin Price, Publisher and Editor in Chief, US Daily  Review.

I know, it sounds nutty, even conspiratorial, but something odd happens after major moves by the anti-gun movement (typically because of spree killings) — gun sales go up and the pro-gun forces see a dramatic jump in donations and gun sales.  If the pro-gun movement is not underwriting their nemesis, they should consider doing  so.

The reason why anti-gun demonstrations lead to a big payoffs for the pro-gun crowd, is simple.  When these killings happen people tend to focus on the weapons used rather than the reasons killers used them.  It becomes obvious that the effort is not nearly about preventing these events, but abridging gun rights.  The analogy is old, but still holds true — no one advocates throwing away pencils for poor spelling, so why discuss guns after mass killings?  We all know these perpetrators are not particularly picky — they have used trucks, poison gas, guns, knives, explosions, etc.  They are simply driven to kill.  The weapon they use is secondary.  For those who cherish gun rights (US households own more guns than there are people in this country), it is difficult to not get suspicious when these events lead to calls against gun rights.  What’s the logic?  It is impossible not to be suspicious of pushes against gun  rights.

The Miami Herald headline says it all — “The NRA Just Broke a 15-year Fund Raising Record.”  It goes on to report “The National Rifle Association’s Political Victory Fund raised $2.4 million from March 1 to March 31, the group’s first full month of political fundraising since the nation’s deadliest high school shooting on Valentine’s Day, according to filings submitted to the Federal Elections Commission. The total is $1.5 million more than the organization raised during the same time period in 2017, when it took in $884,000 in donations, and $1.6 million more than it raised in February  2018.

“The $2.4 million haul is the most money raised by the NRA’s political arm in one month since June 2003, the last month when electronic federal records were readily available. It surpasses the $1.1 million and $1.5 million raised in January and February 2013, the two months after the Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown,  Connecticut.”

USA Daily Chronicles noted that gun organizations are not the only beneficiaries, so are those who sell them.  It notes “It is like clockwork.  People misuse firearms and a vocal group becomes alarmed and calls for gun control. But it doesn’t stop there.  What follows next is a massive jump in gun  sales.

“We saw it again in March with a record number of background checks initiated with the National Instant Check System (NICS), which demonstrates once again that ardent gun control efforts actually pushes more Americans to exercise their right to own  firearms.

“In a recent statement the Second Amendment Foundation noted that, ‘according to raw data from the FBI, last month saw a record 2,767,699 background checks initiated with the system, which is up 334,607 over the number of checks for March 2017, and up 244,434 NICS initiations in March 2016. While the raw data shows the number of NICS checks initiated, the FBI notes in its monthly reports, it does not reflect the actual number of firearms sold for that time  period.’”

The article from USADC goes on to say “The anti-gun movement is the single biggest marketing force for the gun  industry.”

No Americans want spree killings — be them by guns, trucks, knives, explosions, or whatever.  Furthermore, they do not want to see the curtailment of the freedom to protect oneself, which is with our guns.  Instead, we should be having a robust conversation on why these killings are taking place.  There is a powerful case that the cause points to mental health drugs and video games, which are rarely touched by the media.  The gun industry spends a fraction of what the drugs and video industries pay in advertising, which only makes the media look more  suspicious.

If the anti-gun industry wants to stop the fueling of more gun ownership and support of groups advocating such, they need to start discussing the cause of these incidences.  Meanwhile, the pro-gun crowd might want to consider funding the anti-gun movement.  What an odd world we live  in.

 

 

 

 

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