Friday, May 3, 2013

Bill O'Reilly and Gun Control - A Study in Contrasts


Bill O’Reilly, the news commentator who regularly spouts anti-gun control rhetoric, states on page 212 of his book “Killing Kennedy”; which I reviewed here on Tuesday; that Texas, in 1963, with no gun control laws, was the leading state for murders, with 72% of those murders occurring by gunshot.

It is now 2013, 40 years later, and guess what? Texas is still the most lenient state in regards to gun control; and Murder by Firearms there has almost doubled since 1963. But yet, as recently as January 16th of this year, Mr. O’Reilly still maintains that gun control laws will “not stop crazy people from committing murder”, even as he advocates for a mandatory 10 year Federal sentence for any gun crime; from killing your spouse, to robbing a convenience store.

At the same time he also feels that gun control laws; in which he claims to not believe; should be left up to the individual states. This, would of course, result in virtually no local gun control laws, leaving the prosecution of gun related crimes to the Federal Government which Mr. O’Reilly already feels is too big. It also seriously makes me wonder which side of the debate he is really on.

This patchwork, and asinine approach; pitting the States against the Federal government; will yield no other result than to fill the already overcrowded Federal Prisons, thus placing more people under government control than ever before. And, remember, this idea comes from a man who purports to be against “big government.” 

This is just one more example of why political commentators should not be writing serious books about history. It only serves to further display their already overworked misunderstanding of history, as well as calling into question just what their real agenda is.

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