Newsweek Frames Opposition to Virginia Gun Control Bill Disingenuously

AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File

From time to time, Newsweek has some really good op-eds that aren’t just an echo of anti-gun talking points. That’s a good thing and I’m glad to see it.

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It’s just a shame that the rest of the publication is an absolute dumpster fire.

At this point, media bias doesn’t shock me. I expect to find it with pretty much everyone these days and I generally expect, on the issue of guns, to take an anti-gun position.

But sometimes, the disingenuousness of things reach heights that manage to actually surprise me.

Which brings me back to Newsweek.

It seems they published a piece about the NRA’s opposition to a bill in Virginia that will prohibit people carrying guns into establishments that serve alcohol. Cam has already talked about this one already.

The fact that Newsweek covered this doesn’t bother me. What bothers me is when they publish it with a headline that reads, “Proposal to Not Mix Guns and Alcohol Leaves NRA Enraged.”

Especially since they clearly know better based on the text of the article itself.

An attempt by a Virginia Democrat to introduce a ban on concealed guns in bars and restaurants serving alcohol in the state has angered gun rights advocates, including the National Rifle Association (NRA).

The bill introduced by Virginia state Senator Saddam Salim, a Democrat, would ban people from bringing concealed handguns in any businesses with a license to sell and serve alcohol on the premises—even if they’re not themselves drinking. Doing so would be considered a Class 2 misdemeanor that could lead to a fine or even jail time.

Under the current state law, anyone with a concealed gun permit can enter a bar, restaurant or club serving alcohol, though they’re not allowed to drink while there.

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So they know damn good and well that the current law doesn’t mix alcohol and guns. They’re just hoping that all those people who read the headlines and think they understand the subject will go off half-cocked and make a big stink about the NRA’s opposition to this bill.

There are people out there right now trying to paint this as the NRA supporting people getting drunk while carrying a firearm when that’s not even remotely true.

Now, I have issues with laws that try to prohibit anyone handling a firearm while under the influence of alcohol, primarily because people have been prosecuted for defending themselves in their own home after having a few drinks because of those laws.

No one things alcohol and guns make a good combination, and I say that as someone who’s about to kick off a podcast talking about guns and whiskey, for crying out loud. No one thinks people carrying a gun should be drinking.

But what Newsweek is doing is trying to pretend otherwise.

As Cam noted earlier today when I spoke with him about this story, Virginia doesn’t actually have bars. Anywhere that serves alcohol has to get 51 percent of its revenue from food sales, meaning it’s a restaurant.

So there’s plenty of reasons someone might be in a place that sells alcohol while carrying.

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But even if there weren’t, so what?

Let’s not forget that actual bars have been targeted by mass shooters. The Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, California, for one, and then we have the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando. There are legitimate reasons why people would want to carry in such places.

Further, this has been the law in Virginia for more than a decade. Newsweek fails to not only acknowledge that but also fails to acknowledge that in more than a decade, there’s no evidence of this being any kind of issue.

In other words, they’re disingenuous in how they frame it, then they omit a key bit of information.

And they want us to think they’re unbiased.

Absolutely hilarious.

 

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