My home state of Georgia is a lot like a really comfortable pair of jeans. I can't say it's the best, but it fits me, I'm used to it, and I don't want it changing anytime soon.
Unfortunately, I've seen enough anti-gun rumblings over the years to have me more than a little bit worried. Yet a recent report about Georgia gun owners wanting gun control in the wake of Apalachee High isn't what makes me worried. It's nonsense.
Yet that report did, in fact, run.
Let's take a look at just why it's utter male bovine excrement.
Standing under a drizzle at Friday’s candlelight vigil, Winder native John George questioned why anyone would need an assault rifle like the AR-style weapon used in the shooting.
“Some friends, you know, say that I’m crazy. But I think assault weapons should be banned,” George told USA TODAY. “What do you need assault weapons for unless you’re going to be hunting people?”
Nearby parent, Guillermo Rosco, agreed: “Sometimes I think gun regulation is the answer.”
Though George is a supporter of the Second Amendment and a gun owner himself, he believes that “there could be changes” that start with banning assault rifles.
But making those changes is an uphill battle in Georgia, where the gun lobby’s influence in politics and culture looms large.
...
Aricka Crossley, a Barrow County resident for 13 years and gun owner, believes Georgia’s gun laws are out of touch with the needs of the community – and believes leaders across the political spectrum are to blame.
“If there were better safeguards in place, we wouldn’t be in this situation,” Crossley said. “I feel like it’s not about the blue or the red. I think in the state of Georgia, we don’t address the necessary issues because of how it’s going to sway the vote and who it keeps in office.”
That's it. Three people.
They talked to three people, at least two of which claim they were gun owners, yet they're parroting the typical anti-gunner talking points. Mr. George doesn't sound like a gun guy who suddenly got rattled enough to support some restrictions. That sounds like someone who has favored gun control for years and years.
First, George can claim he supports the Second Amendment, but anyone who thinks "What do you need <insert literally any type of firearm here> for?" is a valid question when it comes to a discussion of gun control doesn't support the Second Amendment.
Especially when the moment they can get away with banning one type of gun, they will just keep going. How many try to justify banning so-called assault weapons by using the machine gun ban?
The state of Georgia is a lot more than these three people, yet somehow this reporter was just able to just happen upon three that favor the same thing so many journalists seem to favor. Funny how that shakes out, isn't it?
There's no indication they reached out to anyone to get a differing point of view. There's no hint that they even tried to get a representative group of Georgia residents to get an idea of what people in the state really think, especially compared to where they were just a few weeks ago.
Then again, this is USA Today. That's right, the same publication that tried to raise an alarm about chainsaw bayonets. Now, with that same journalistic integrity and talent, they're telling you that Georgians are suddenly pro-gun, and all that have are interviews with three gun control advocates.
Absolutely brilliant work, that.
Remember, folks, no matter how much you hate the media, you don't hate the media enough.
You don't hate them nearly enough, especially when it comes to guns.
They're going to keep doing this and pretend it's nothing new.
