There is one factual truth in all this. It is that all the “gun control” remedies that are constitutional have been tried, and they all lead to the conclusion of the Carter Administration’s 1981 blue ribbon study on gun violence, commissioned in the expectation that it would prove guns cause crime and thereby provide a launch pad for prohibitive legislation. The conclusion? “It is commonly hypothesized that much criminal violence, especially homicide, occurs simply because firearms are readily at hand and, thus, that much homicide would not occur were firearms generally less available. There is no persuasive evidence that supports this view.”
American media and its intellectuals have almost totally ignored the Carter researchers’ facts in favor of their own “truths” even though their biases get undercut. For instance, a joint study conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (where the famous Johnson Administration “results-oriented” 1968 study advising that handguns be banned was done) and the University of California at Davis Violence Prevention Research Program found that California’s much-touted mandatory background checks had no impact on gun deaths.
Said background check law was the most comprehensive in the United States. It required background checks for all firearm sales (and gun possession) to people convicted of misdemeanor violent crimes. All gun sales, including private transactions, had to go through a California-licensed Federal Firearms License (FFL) dealer.
Dan Gifford: "Can a Legitimate Case Be Made for Gun Control?"
1Can a Legitimate Case Be Made for Gun Control?