Pelosi Attacks Trump for not Addressing “Gun Violence Epidemic”
Jose Nino
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Not wasting time after President Trump’s State of the Union address, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lambasted Trump’s speech for not addressing “the gun violence epidemic”.
Pelosi also made sure to criticize Trump’s concerns with border security and pivot the discussion to gun control. Pelosi can whine all she wants about the so-called “gun violence epidemic”, but the facts have an inconvenient way of bringing down her dubious assertions. Contrary to popular belief, there is no gun violence epidemic in the United States.
For a start, school shootings have actually been on the decline since the 1990s. According to Criminology Professor James Alan Fox’s research, four times as many children were killed in shootings during the early 90s than in present times. School children these days are more likely to die drowning or in bike accidents.
However, dropping incidences of gun violence go beyond the school yard. Declining crime rates were seen from 1993 to 2013, a period when per capita gun ownership increased by 56 percent and gun violence dropped by 49 percent during the same time frame. From a big picture perspective, the United States hit a 51-year low in homicide rates during 2014.
Despite hand-wringing from anti-gunners, more guns and laxer carry laws have not translated into more crime. However, gun controllers don’t care about facts.
On the day after the State of the Union, there were hearings on H.R. 8, the House’s Universal Background Check bill. Universal Background Checks are already law in 11 states, and now Congress critters want to bring them to the DC swamp. Anti-gun Democrats took the House in the 2018 midterms, and want to leave their mark by ramming gun control through. With a safe majority in the House, they will likely pass H.R 8 with relative ease.
The Republican-controlled Senate is a different story, but a number of squishy Republicans like Rick Scott, Marco Rubio, Mitt Romney, and Lindsay Graham could make things interesting if H.R. 8 makes its way to the Senate. It’s anyone’s guess what could happen in the 116th Congress, but there’s no denying that gun control will be one of the most polarizing issues for the next year or so.
However, let’s not kid ourselves. The concerns about a gun violence epidemic are misplaced.
Instead, there is an epidemic of control freak politicians who think they know better than the average American on how to defend themselves and their loved ones. For that reason, Second Amendment supporters must keep their eyes peeled for any anti-gun shenanigans when Congress is in session.
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