(May 20, 2002) I received much positive comment from publishing last month a partial list of groups that showed up to agitate for gun control during session. Here's another example of how you can go bug-eyed trying to think about testimony as if it is supposed to make sense. Proponents of mandatory licensing of gun owners (as advanced by Van Hollen and Shriver) submitted testimony from the violently anti-gun Violence Policy Center (VPC) that stated:
"The VPC has conducted significant research regarding the effectiveness of handgun licensing and registration and firearm safety training. Our conclusion is that handgun licensing and registration can have only a very limited impact on firearm-related death and injury. ... Research also demonstrates that firearm safety training has no positive effect in reducing gun death and injury …"
Yes, the same folks who brought us mandatory firearm safety training two years ago put this text in to support the licensing bill. This VPC testimony tells us two important things. First, gun control proponents now publicly admit that their objective in enacting new restrictions does not involve public safety. Second, left-wingers who want new gun laws imposed on you and me don't even pretend to review the facts before voting.
There's more. In the most recent year for which they report, the National Safety Council reports a nationwide total of 866 accidental deaths involving a firearm. In the same period it reports 43,000 deaths involving a vehicle. In spite of this, spokesmen for the United Methodist Church backed gun control this session saying: "Firearm related deaths have become the number one cause of accident related injuries in our state, exceeding the number caused by motor vehicle accidents." It turns out that is a direct quote from an anti-gun advocacy group's advertising. We inquired as to why Methodists would parrot such misinformation, but no spokesman has yet responded. Similar inquiries were sent to the other groups identified last month, with only one answer to date. Apparently it is easy to write anti-gun testimony, but quite inconvenient to account for it. We will continue to collect and report answers.
Note it is easy to write to these groups, since most letters go to the same Annapolis address. Yup! A careful check of the written testimony reveals much was generated from the same office, using multiple letterheads to con legislators into believing our state's religious community somehow backs gun control in a broad and united front. Thoughtful members of the named congregations may wish to inquire as to what is being promoted in their names.