With the midterm elections inching ever closer, crime is set to be a major issue. That’s bad news for Democrats as polling suggests voters don’t actually like Democrats for dealing with crime. On that issue, Republican candidates typically come out ahead.

So now it seems Democrats are trying to reframe one of their cornerstone issues–gun control, where they seem to be polling well enough–as actually being crime control.

Yet, that’s not remotely true.

Democrats are trying to convince voters that they aren’t soft on crime because they are tough on gun owners.

The problem is that gun control almost always targets law-abiding citizens, not actual criminals.

Politico details the Democratic strategy of tying crime to “how easy it is to get a gun in America.” According to the outlet, Democrats see a mild boost in their crime message by focusing on gun control, though it comes nowhere near the 23-point advantage Republicans hold on crime. Democrats think they can present their gun control agenda as being tough on crime, and at least peel away enough swing voters to save some Democrats in competitive races.

But the Democratic Party’s gun control proposals have little to do with crime. Those proposals target law-abiding citizens who buy guns legally and submit to background checks — something criminals aren’t exactly known to do.

According to a Department of Justice report from 2019, 91% of gun criminals acquire their weapons from the black market or from another individual, obtain them at the scene of the crime, or steal them. When Democrats propose “expanded” background checks or “assault weapons” bans, they are simply raising the burden for gun owners who actually follow the law to acquire firearms. They are not cracking down on crime guns, which are obtained outside that universe of background checks.

Exactly.

However, Democrats have one thing working for them that we don’t. They have a complicit media that has refused to really push back on the notion that something like universal background checks would somehow inhibit criminals.

Which is why they’re trying this push.

They can’t really spin crime in any meaningful way. It’s high in cities with Democratic leadership and policies pushed by Democrats over the last few years involving bail reform are viewed as contributing to the problem. They can’t spin that even with media help.

So, they shift to gun control.

Polling has suggested that they’re viewed more favorably on guns by the general public, so they’re leaning into that and trying to spin that as an anti-crime measure. The problem isthat it’s not.

Time and time again, we’ve seen how gun control fails to accomplish anything. It doesn’t stop criminals from obtaining guns. It never has. I mean, France is having a problem with murders conducted with AKs and they have gun control far more restrictive than anything we could ever pass.

Crime is a problem, but gun control isn’t the solution. In fact, look at violent crime rates when the Gun Control Act of 1968 was passed. They skyrocketed and remained high until states started embracing concealed carry.

Being anti-gun isn’t being anti-crime and no amount of spin will change that.