Everytown for Gun Safety is just one of many anti-gun organizations that wants to infringe upon the rights of law-abiding gun owners. We know the names of a bunch of others, but the Bloomberg-backed group is one of the big ones and we know that with the midterm campaigns about to start off soon, they’re going to gear up their ad machine to try and push people in the middle toward their direction.
It seems they plan on featuring “gun owners” and law enforcement in a new advertising campaign.
A leading gun control advocacy group is launching a $500,000 ad campaign urging Congress to pass legislation to expand background checks on gun sales.
Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund will air a series of new TV and digital ads in Alaska, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas over the next two weeks. The ads feature gun owners and members of law enforcement in an effort to get Republicans on board with bills to strengthen background checks.
“The frequency of gun crime and mass shootings is deeply troubling,” Columbia, S.C., Police Chief Skip Holbrook says in an ad from Everytown. “It makes our communities less safe and our jobs harder. Supporting background checks is supporting law enforcement.”
It should be noted that the vast majority of mass shooters pass NICS checks because they haven’t been convicted of any crime that would preclude them from buying a gun.
Moving on…
The House passed bills to tighten background checks on gun sales in March, which included a measure to require background checks on private gun sales. But Democrats and gun control advocates are struggling to find enough Republican votes to bypass the Senate filibuster. Everytown’s ads are airing in the home states of GOP senators who have expressed interest in passing a bipartisan background check bill, including Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Lisa Murkoswki (R-Alaska).
In other words, they’re trying to pressure GOP lawmakers to break with their party and push through a universal background check bill that will accomplish absolutely nothing.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I expect their ads to be one-sided, but it just makes it critical that we address these advertisements head-on and make sure people understand not just why these claims are wrong but also why universal background checks are a bad idea. We have to combat the disinformation that will be passed by the people featured in these ads.
It’s well past time to stop playing defense and go after these groups with a vengeance. We all know that this isn’t the endgame. No one is going to stop with universal background checks and say, “This is enough gun control. We’re done.” They’re going to continue to push for more and more until the Second Amendment has absolutely no meaning anymore. So, we need to be more aggressive in fighting back.
Point out examples of people whose lives were saved because a friend loaned them a gun, something they couldn’t do under most universal background check proposals. Talk about people who have run into issues with inherited firearms because of universal background checks. Things like that.
Hit them not just with fact-checking their claims but also providing real-world examples of how universal background checks will make people’s lives more difficult with no real gain.
Yeah, I know people love to say “shall not be infringed” as if it’s the only argument you need, but take a look around for a moment. It’s good for applause with a crowd of pro-gun folks, but it doesn’t win over people who might consider gun control. You have to come at it from another angle.
It’s high time we do that.
