I'll give Las Vegas news reporter Steve Sebelius this: at least he's not trying to hide his anti-gun bias. When I saw the headline "The challenge of passing new gun laws after mass shootings", I had a feeling the accompanying story was going to have a slanted point of view. But sometimes reporters aren't responsible for headlines, and I still went into Sebelius's report with an open mind. 

Sebelius leads off with a generic soundbite from Nevada State Assemblywoman Sandra Jauregui, who he says "has authored several bills aimed at curbing gun crime, but some have been vetoed by the state's Republican governor." 

Not gun control, mind you. Oh, no. In fact, that phrase appears in the headline, but not once does Sebelius use it in his story. 

Sebelius spoke to Gov. Joe Lombardo, a former sheriff who might know something about the efficacy of gun control laws. And to his credit, the reporter quoted the governor's statement that "he doesn't believe there is a law that is not currently on the books that would make people safer from gun violence."

After that brief aside, however, Sebelius quickly returned to his theme that putting more gun laws on the books is a necessary step to prevent mass shootings  

In the years after the shooting at the Route 91 music festival, Nevada took steps to prevent another mass shooting. The state implemented a ban on bump stocks, which allows a semiautomatic rifle to fire almost as fast as a fully automatic machine gun. Nevada also now has a so-called red-flag law, which allows police or family members to ask a judge to take a person's guns away if they believe the person is planning violence. Restrictions on so-called ghost guns were also tightened. The unfinished kits that can be assembled into a firearm cannot legally be sold without a background check.

Jauregui believes even more can be done, including passing a bill that would ban firearms at polling places.

"In a place, which is a sacred place, a place where people go and exercise their right, their most fundamental right, the right for their voice to be heard, they should be able to do that free from intimidation," she said.

Except that's not what Jauregui's bill did. Yes, there was a felony crime created for carrying a gun within 100 feet of the entrance to a poling place for someone with "the specific intent to disrupt, interfere with or monitor the administration of the election, the counting of votes or any person who is voting or attempting to vote", but the bill also created a misdemeanor offense simply for carrying without any intent to intimidate or disrupt the counting of votes. What's more, the legislation also contained numerous provisions completely unrelated to voting that would have prohibited anyone in the state from possessing or purchasing an unfinished frame or receiver. 

Sebelius allowed Jauregui to have the last word in his report, which is another trick that reporters can deploy to reinforce the implicit message in their ostensibly neutral coverage. We never hear from any gun owners who might have been impacted by the law, nor any attorney or scholar who could point out the legal problems with the Democrats' gun control agenda. The message is simple and hard to ignore, even if Sebelius never comes out and explicitly says it: the state needs more gun control, and Republicans are standing in the way. 

Here's the rest of the story; the one that Sebelius never shared with his audience. According to the latest statistics from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (current as of May 10th):

• Homicides are down 22% compared to the same time in 2023. 
• "Weapons law violations" have decreased by 5.1%.
• Robbery is down 11.9%. 
• Firearm cases have dropped by 8.3%. 
• Shooting victims have decreased by 18.8%. 

I'd say that's fairly important information in a story that's all about the supposed need for more gun control to protect the public, wouldn't you? 

As Second Amendment advocates, we can't let this kind of bias go unchecked. It's critically important that we refute the false claims of anti-gun politicians and the gun control lobby, as well as call out the spin from their allies in the media. It's become harder to do that thanks to Big Tech censorship, but our VIP and VIP Gold members are playing a crucial role in amplifying our independent, pro-Second Amendment reporting. By signing up, you'll not only get exclusive content, an ad-free experience, and other benefits. You'll be playing a crucial role in combatting the misinformation about and the attacks on our right to keep and bear arms. Use the promo code SAVEAMERICA when you join our VIP or VIP Gold programs and you can save 50% on your membership... while helping to save the Second Amendment from the gun grabbers.