We're seeing a lot of bizarre and ignorant takes right now regarding the shooting in a Manhattan office building earlier this week. Four people are dead, including one police officer, and all most people seem to care about is the weapon the alleged killer used.
It's stupid and disgusting, even if it wasn't ignorant, but some of the comments made by people who should know better just make it that much worse.
Take New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (please?), for example.
She made a really stupid claim, and Breitbart's AWR Hawkins gave it the old fact check.
CLAIM: During a gun control rant on CNN’s Inside Politics, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) noted the alleged Manhattan shooter had a concealed carry permit and claimed the permit allowed him to have an AR-15.
VERDICT: False. Having a concealed carry permit centers on the carrying of handguns for self-defense, not rifles.
Moreover, having a concealed carry permit does not allow a visitor to ignore the laws of a state to which they travel. The alleged Manhattan shooter had driven across the country to New York, and in New York there is a prohibition against guns which Democrats refer to as “assault weapons.”
Yeah, that's a pretty dumb statement to make. The fact that he used an AR-style weapon means that his carry permit, assuming it was still valid, is largely irrelevant to this incident in and of itself.
But there seem to be claims that the weapon had a pistol brace, as opposed to a stock, thus it was a pistol. They seem to think that might make a difference or something, but Hawkins brings up another key point here.
To take it even further, even if having a concealed carry permit pertained to rifles–which it does not–New York does not recognize the concealed carry permit from any of the other 49 states, according to USCCA.
Bingo.
Even if a carry permit applied to the weapon in question, it wouldn't have mattered because New York doesn't recognize it.
Now, many are claiming that this is the reason we need an assault weapon ban at the federal level, but let's understand a few things about mass murders. First, the original school massacre in this country was carried out with clubs and flintlocks and happened before we were even our own country. It's the heart that kills, ultimately, not the weapon.
Second, the worst school shooting in the country's history was at Virginia Tech, where the killer used two handguns.
In fact, a lot of mass killings involve actual handguns, not AR-style rifles or pistols.
And let's also be real here, there's no amount of Kathy Hochul screaming that's going to get anyone to hand over their ARs or other semi-automatic firearms. It's just not going to happen, no matter how you try to frame it.
I sincerely hope that Hochul is used to disappointment, because that's what her and her buddies' current push will ultimately yield for them. A big, fat, steamy case of disappointment.
They deserve far worse for yet again trying to trample on our right to keep and bear arms, but I'll take what I can get here.
Editor’s Note: The Democrat Party has never been less popular as voters reject its anti-freedom agenda.
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