I don’t like the idea of bringing a political fight to a Thanksgiving Dinner. The spirit of the holiday is gratitude, not preachiness and confrontation. I don’t like the ‘60s theory of, “The personal is political.” In my opinion, those who have turned the personal into the political are partly culpable for the fraying of the bonds of family, community, and society.

If someone in your family decides to get in your face about politics, magnanimity calls for smiling, nodding, and walking away. Maybe go play video games with your young relatives to avoid talking about politics. Maybe step outside to get some fresh air and look at the sky for migrating birds. Go back to the dining table for seconds. That’s my preferred approach.

Politics is temporal and temporary. It’s not worth destroying your lasting relationships over. But our friends at Everytown don’t get it. They want gun control supporters to get in our faces during what’s supposed to be a peaceful family gathering. They published this guide (archived link) to annoy your family and push gun control talking points. Most of that guide is deception, and I didn’t want to let it slide. So here’s my counter-guide to debunk Everytown’s “Guide.” Please note that I’m not encouraging you in any way to get confrontational.

Everytown’s Claimed Myths and Alleged Facts

Claimed Myth: Criminals will always find a way to get their hands on a gun.
Alleged Fact: Laws like background checks stop gun sales to criminals every day. Since 1994, these laws have blocked more than 4 million gun sales to people who could not legally own guns.

It’s undeniable that a determined criminal will find a way to get a gun. If he can’t get a gun, he will find alternative methods of violence. The background check system blocks retail sales, but there’s nothing stopping alternatives like thefts or the black market. 

Everytown links to a pie chart of denials, in which 38% are for felony convictions. Guess who would be included in that category if she filled out a background check form? Martha Stewart, because of her felony conviction for insider trading. Is Martha Stewart so dangerous that she shouldn’t own a gun? Everytown’s pie chart also shows that 5.5% of denials were to people under felony indictment. This isn’t something to brag about. There’s also felony “scope creep.” For the interested reader, there’s a book titled, “Three Felonies A Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent.” The premise of this book is that the average person unwittingly commits three felonies per day.

Attorney Kostas Moros of the California Rifle and Pistol Association also points out that only 11% of traced crime guns were legally bought. Besides non-retail acquisitions, this could also mean that the background check system green lighted some prohibited persons, as in some high-profile cases.

Claimed Myth: Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.
Alleged Fact: People with guns kill people, and more efficiently than people without guns. The U.S. gun homicide rate is 26x higher than that of other high-income countries.

This is a hat trick of bait-and-switch, cherry picking and deceiving with statistics. First, there’s the bait-and-switch. Millions of people have guns sitting in their safes as I type this. They’re not going to jump out and kill anyone. Everytown swaps the inanimate nature of guns with the efficient killing by people of other people.

Second, the cherry picked statistics. If we’re going to stick with high income countries, a fair comparison would be comparing the total homicide rate because other countries have disarmed their citizenry. Everytown, however, compares the homicide rate using only firearms to paint a dire picture. For the interested reader, there’s a book that explains “How to Lie with Statistics.” 

Claimed Myth: Federal law prohibits ALL domestic abusers from having guns.
Alleged Fact: Federal law does not prohibit current or recent former dating partners subject to a domestic violence restraining order from purchasing or possessing guns.

This alleged “boyfriend loophole” has already been addressed for those convicted (archived link) of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. Everytown is complaining that due process has not been destroyed for the accused.

Claimed Myth: Strong gun laws don’t work. Look at Chicago.
Alleged Fact: Chicago proves why we must push for strong federal gun laws. Many of the crime guns recovered in Chicago and in other cities in states with strong gun violence prevention laws can be traced back to states with weaker gun laws.

Chicago’s violence isn’t uniform. Why does the north side of Chicago not have so much “gun violence,” whereas the south side is “Chiraq,” a warzone? If neighboring states with “weak gun laws” are responsible for the violence in the south side of Chicago, why are those states not fueling the same violence in the north side? Also, why are the bordering states – Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, and most importantly Iowa, not such basket cases like Chicago? As Kostas points out, most Chicago crime guns are traced to Illinois, not its neighbors.

Claimed Myth: A small child cannot pull a trigger.
Alleged Fact: Every year, hundreds of children age 17 and under gain access to a gun and unintentionally shoot themselves or someone else—sometimes fatally. Nearly one in three of these shooters are ages five and younger.

I haven’t heard anyone – gun owner or not – claim that a small child cannot pull a trigger.

Claimed Myth: The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun.
Alleged Fact: If more guns everywhere made us safer, America would be the safest country on earth. Instead, we have a gun homicide rate 26x that of other high-income countries.

What does Everytown suggest we stop an armed bad guy with? A pool noodle? Note that they’re repeating the 26x misleading statistic from earlier.

We're only halfway through Everytown's deceptions. Stay tuned for Part 2...