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ABC 20/20 on guns
I was tipped off, too late, that the latest issue of ABC's 20/20's "Myths, Lies, and Straight Talk" had an astonishing segment on gun control. Here's the online summary:
"MYTH # 5 — Guns Are Always Bad for Us
America is notorious for its culture of gun violence. Guns sometimes do cause terrible harm, and many kids are killed every year in gun accidents. But public service announcements and news stories make it seem as if the accidents kill thousands of kids every year.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, however, fewer than 100 kids 15 and under are killed in gun accidents every year. Of course that's horrible, and I understand why demonstrators say we need more gun control.
But guess what? The Centers for Disease Control recently completed a review of studies of various types of gun control: background checks, waiting periods, bans on certain guns and ammunition. It could not document that these rules have reduced violent crime.
The government wants to say regulations and laws like the Brady Gun Control Law are making a difference, but they aren't. Some maximum security felons I spoke to in New Jersey scoffed at measures like the Brady law. They said they'll have no trouble getting guns if they want them.
A Justice Department study confirmed what the prisoners said. But get this: the felons say that the thing they fear the most is not the police, not time in prison, but, you, another American who might be armed.
It's a reason many states are passing gun un-control. They're allowing citizens to carry guns with them, it's called concealed carry or right to carry. Some women say they're comforted by these laws.
But many people, including Rev. Al Sharpton, are horrified at the idea of concealed carry laws, and predict mayhem if all states adopt these laws.
But surprise, 36 states already have concealed carry laws; and not one reported an upsurge in gun crime."
I may just start watching.... the other segments on this iconclastic broadcast included giving the rebuttal to claims that we have less free time, that Republicans actually do shrink the size of government, that overpopulation is a problem, that DDT and other chemicals are bad, and that we are nuking our forests.
And to think this is Peter Jenning's old network...
UPDATE: see more in extended posting below....
Curt Stone comments (but for some reason the Blacklist program won't let his comment thru)--
Yes, the piece was a John Stossel masterpiece. He is an extremely rare libertarian member of the MSM. He publishes a weekly column carried by townhall.com . Last week's column outlined the subject of his report on 20/20.
There is a miracle and an anti-miracle represented by John's tenure at 20/20. First, the miracle is that he wasn't immediately run off of ABC and 20/20 on a rail after his very first "heretical" piece years ago. Since that first piece, he has built up a considerable fan base. His segments are inevitably some of the highest rated on ABC.
The anti-miracle is that ABC and the rest of the MSM just doesn't seem to get it. They can't figure out why he is so popular when he is so out of step with "main stream Americans". They just can't seem to grasp that he represents more of the view of main stream Americans than they ever will and that they would do their ratings a favor by seeking out more journalists and pieces like his.
They don't get it because they don't want to..they simply do not WANT to believe that the rest of us don’t believe exactly what they do and hold the same prejudices. They can't get rid of John because he has such a huge following (or perhaps he is simply their way of being able to point at someone and say: "see, we aren't ALL liberal bed wetters"). But they can and do relegate him to the least desirable time slots in the hope that he won't be noticed by anyone else. You'll also note that they don't advertise his pieces very aggressively...contrasted with the ridiculously misleading anti-gun hit piece done by our favorite Canadian just prior to the expiration of the Clinton "scary looking gun" ban which I saw repeatedly advertised for days prior to it's airing.
Curtis Stone
Norfolk, VA
Aka “Sailorcurt”
http://captainofone.blogspot.com
· media
4 Comments
I'll repeat what I've said in other comments on this page, the Liberal Elites actually WANT the criminal element to hurt us, maim us, kill us, have their way with us. Liberalism is a mental illness. There's no reasoning with those people.
I saw this segment a while back. It was very good.
C.A.G.
I believe we are at 38 states with CCW/RTC at the moment with a 39th about to be added from all appearances.
I believe you are speaking of John Stossel's contrarian pieces. Rest assured that he is there to represent an "op-ed", not the party line at ABC which remains firmly in the MSM.