About the Episode
On Friday: Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton said that a gun buyback measure like that in Australia would be worth considering on a National level in the US. People love to use Australia as an example of how gun control can work, but it is more accurately how a coercive government gets its way by confiscating guns. Clinton has even made comments that buyback programs for guns is like a Cash for Clunkers. That is an awful comparison: cash for clunkers didn’t try to confiscate cars, but recycle old ones.
Common Core backers are sneaking sociopolitical agendas into nationalized curriculum, according to critics. The plan includes a study guide dubbed “the battle over gun control” that uses language painting the NRA as bad guys. It frames the debate in such a way that young minds could easily be influenced to dislike the national gun organization, instead of developing the critical thinking skills that Common Core seeks to instill. Some people call this amateur, I call it brainwashing.
California is seeking even stricter gun control laws. The state announced Thursday a voter initiative that could require on the spot background checks for ammunition sales. This is similar to a New York law passed after the 2012 Newton, Conn., shooting. It would also prohibit possession of magazines with more than 10-round capacity, ensure reports to the federal firearms database, and require reports on lost or stolen guns.
We have crime data for 2014! Crime once again dropped, 1% in murder, six percent in robbery, and firearm related violent crimes also decreased. Viewing these reports with reports going back 50 years, murder appears to be at an all time low, while data from the FBI and ATF indicate that Americans are attaining firearms in record numbers. As in previous years, cities accounted for a higher proportion of violent crime, and in cities that have restrictive gun laws murder rates were much higher. There was no correlation between state gun laws and crime rates.