Shannon Watts Dresses Up Her Gun Control Rhetoric for Teen Vogue

The woman who has more people blocked on Twitter than most of our readers are following combined is at it again.

Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand and Bloomberg talking head, has dressed up her gun control narrative for an audience of future moms: Teen Vogue.

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In her op-ed, Watts advises young women to hate the NRA for keeping American lawmakers ever-reminded of their oath to uphold and defend the United States Constitution which includes the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms.

In part because America has something else no other developed nation has: a gun lobby that pushes for extreme “guns everywhere” policies while lobbying against common-sense gun laws. The National Rifle Association — which used to be an organization of sportsmen and hunters — boasts some of the most powerful lobbyists in America, working to pad the pockets of gun manufacturers by fighting even modest efforts to close loopholes in our gun laws. As a result, dangerous people are able to get their hands on guns — no questions asked.

Nope, nope, no, nuh-uh, nah… whole lotta lies in there, but the gist is that Ms. Watts is angry that American gun owners still passionately fund the National Rifle Association to lobby on our behalf. She should educate herself on how much we advocate for changes to fix the system rather than spouting off like a petulant child.

Here are some things you may not know about the NRA leaders and their radical campaign to weaken and block lifesaving gun laws, which includes:

1. Blocking research to better understand our nation’s gun violence crisis and how to solve it. NRA lobbyists persuaded Congress to ban gun violence research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As a result, the Journal of the American Medical Association recently found that gun violence is one of the least researched causes of death.

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Thank you, NRA! We don’t need to fund research on the nation’s gun violence crisis because we already know why we have problems, we don’t need an anti-gun government entity to skew anything we already know. (and yes, the NRA has a suggestion to fix that, too)

2. Making it easy for felons, domestic abusers, and even suspected terrorists to buy guns by continuing to block efforts to close deadly loopholes in our nation’s gun laws. As a result, millions of guns are exchanged each year without a background check — and the federal government has no authority to block gun sales to suspected terrorists, even those deemed too dangerous to fly.

3. Stalling efforts to close the “boyfriend loophole.” It’s true that some domestic abusers are prohibited from buying guns, and they can’t pass a federal background check when they try to buy a gun from a licensed dealer. But there’s a big catch: An abuser is only prohibited from buying a gun if currently married to, formerly married to, has a child with, or lives with the victim.

Wrong again, Ms. Watts: we have pushed to fix the system tirelessly.

4. Pushing a “guns everywhere” agenda to allow guns in K-12 schools and daycares, on college campuses, in bars, and in airports. In Florida, the legislature is preparing to consider two gun-lobby-backed bills that would allow concealed handguns in airports. One of these bills would also allow guns into K-12 schools and on college campuses.

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That’s right, the NRA fights to ensure law-abiding citizens have the right to carry guns no matter wherever they happen to be because the Second Amendment doesn’t stop at the perimeter of a gun-free zone. As a parent of three children, I appreciate the National Rifle Association’s tireless efforts to fight for my right to carry in the places where our most precious and vulnerable loved ones gather.

5. Promoting gag orders that restrict doctors and military leaders from discussing gun safety with parents and service members at risk for suicide.

Wait, like how the NRA is working with advocates, doctors, gun stores and pharmacists on a law to prevent suicides through awareness, education and training for pharmacists and those who sell firearms or teach others to use them, such as firing range operators or training experts — to emphasize safe storage in the home as well as potential suicidal signs to watch for and what to do when concerned? Once again, Ms. Watts needs to stop talking and start listening to what’s really going on around her.

6. Propagating the myth that more guns in more places is the best way to stop gun violence. After the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the NRA’s executive vice president infamously said, “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

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This is not a myth, the best way to stop a bad guy with a gun is making sure there is a good guy with a gun in the area to quickly neutralize the threat to save lives. Does Ms. Watts ever notice that all but two mass shootings in America since 1952 have taken place in gun-free zones? That’s because criminals and evil individuals know these are the places they will be able to do the most harm.

7. Marketing guns to YOU — regardless of whether it’s in your best interests. Gun manufacturers are trying to create new customers by telling women a gun is the only way to protect themselves. This ignores the very real problem of gun violence against women. Data shows that women are 16 times more likely to be killed by a gun in the United States than in other developed countries and, when guns are present in a domestic violence situation, a woman is five times more likely to be killed.

Actually, the NRA promotes many ways women (and men) can protect themselves, even without a gun. The Refuse to be a Victim program is a perfect example. The NRA program teaches people how to be safe in any situation, with or without a gun.

Once again, Watts and her Moms Demand minions are simply dressing up their ignorant and inflammatory rhetoric in an effort to villainize the National Rifle Association. Unlike Bloomberg’s lobbyists, the NRA’s team is funded by none other than sportsmen, hunters, Second Amendment defenders, concealed carry advocates and law-abiding citizens of America who proudly donate their hard-earned money to the largest, most effective national organization fighting to defend our rights against people like her.

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And Watts’ latest op-ed is yet another sad example of just how much we do need them.

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