Second Amendment Foundation condemns media bias
courtesy SAF

From the Second Amendment Foundation:

BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation today condemned what it considers blatant media bias against firearms, which invariably seems to show up in headlines and news reports just prior to an election.

“We’ve got an important midterm election next week,” noted SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb, “and gun control versus gun rights is an important shadow issue because Democrats have already made it clear that guns will be on the agenda if they take control of the Congress.”

He was not surprised that the Associated Press circulated an article headlined “Guns send over 8,000 US kids to ER each year, analysis says.” Gottlieb said it is “no coincidence” that such stories appear before an election.

“Guns haven’t sent anybody anywhere,” Gottlieb observed. “Careless people or criminals misusing guns are responsible, but guns get the blame. The problem is that many people never read past the headline, and this sort of thing contributes to the public’s impression that bias drives such sensational headlines.

“In Washington State,” he continued, “there is obvious media bias in some publications about a gun control initiative on the ballot. All five major law enforcement groups in the state, representing thousands of rank-and-file lawmen and women, are opposed to the measure, but the media downplayed their importance, referring to them as a ‘handful of law enforcement groups,’ or ‘some law enforcement groups,’ while vastly inflating the importance of three officials, including a single county sheriff, who are supporting the initiative.

“The press screams when anybody talks about ‘fake news’,” Gottlieb noted, “but this bias is exactly what people are talking about, and when it comes to gun issues, it’s blatant. News agencies refer to gun prohibition lobbying groups as ‘gun safety organizations’ to help disguise their true intent. They talk about ‘semiautomatic assault rifles,’ when there really is no such thing, since true ‘assault rifles’ are fully automatic.

“It’s all subliminal, but it is designed to create an impression about firearms, gun owners and their desire to add further restrictions on the Second Amendment,” he stated. “It’s deplorable and dishonest, but it exemplifies why people no longer trust the media. The public is not as dumb as the press thinks, and the proof is shrinking newspaper circulation and declining ratings. The press needs credibility, but on the gun issue, that was sacrificed a long time ago.”

The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.

 

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21 COMMENTS

  1. They talk about ‘semiautomatic assault rifles,’ when there really is no such thing, since true ‘assault rifles’ are fully automatic.

    But what about the ones that are “fully-semi-automatic”?

      • Those also have a selector lever that is able to go past semi to FULL RETARD. That’s when you know it’s a legitimate military grade fully semi automatic weapon. That and a barrel shroud that goes up on your shoulder.

        All kidding aside, the Anti-gun left knows exactly what this all means over the years. They know damn well that by inventing a million new nonsensical definitions that are then baked into federal and state laws, gun owners will now be walking through legal minefields just to own and carry firearms. Sure you can own a rifle…wait a minute, is that little piece of metal hanging off the end a bayonet lug? Well now, you now have an unregistered semi auto assault weapon you bad felon! It’s death by a thousand cuts. Seriously. Mike Bloomberg pilots helicopters on top of being a financial wiz. Do you honestly think he has no idea how an assault rifle differs from a semi auto? They’re even getting dictionaries to redefine the terms on their own terms: http://thefederalist.com/2018/03/31/merriam-webster-online-dictionary-changes-definition-assault-rifle/

        So yeah, they know exactly what they’re doing.

        • You’re right, of course they know, and they are pretty good at manipulating public opinion. While they’ve been focused on semi-auto “military style”, magazine capacity & rate of fire (bump stocks are the poster boy for that), for some years now, that’s not the end game. They will go after other accessories and capabilities. Scopes and other common products that increase accuracy at long range for example, especially those that are in use by the military. A mil-dot illuminated reticle scope on your favorite fudd gun, you say? No-no, can’t have that piece of “military” hardware. And so on. Don’t think for a second they will be satisfied with just AR/AK or other semi-auto’s. Eventually, they’ll get around to anything that will throw a bullet more than 10 ft.

  2. I have been telling people at work for many weeks, there will be something big make the news before the midterms. I was so correct.

  3. Even if Dems had House, Senate & White House, there’s no guarantee gun control legislation would pass. After all, Reps have had all the levers for two years, and the deficit keeps growing, Obama-care is the law, there is no immigration or social security reform, etc.

  6. THIS is why it’s ever important for YOU as someone who understands #2A to confront these lies and talk to others.
    Yes, not exactly polite but when they learn from you that BIG BAD NRA only threw in $30 Millions in 2016 while Bloomberg alone threw in $100 Millions, plus much more from George Soros (with articles from Forbes.com etc) you can change the minds of the people once and for all about what the media really is about. One talk from you makes them stop reading just the headlines from #FakeNews

    I’ve personally converted more than one person to vote away from Dems.

  7. Come on come on say it like it is…. Willful political propaganda by groups of people and political organizations that wish to overthrow US Constitution/ Bill of Rights. Number one groups being: Democratic Party, media corporations, Silicon Valley, excetera excetera…. all in League to bring about their form of a utopian Marxist regime. I don’t think United States voters of that stupid not to see all these groups, organizations ,and media Outlets are acting. Almost alarming. Like a foreign invasion. Like going to bed and suddenly waking up in the Soviet Union.

  10. Yes the media is totally biased, gun owners are very aware of this fact. The question is how to combat it. Endless barbs about gun nomenclature will have no effect. Anti gun sentiment has nothing to do with the details. To most who oppose gun ownership the weapon or how it works isn’t an issue.

  11. As a future journalist, I realize it is hard to avoid this subject. It is such a complex topic that it becomes difficult for me, a journalism university student, to express my opinion. I know more about media bias due to the information I find in free papers I access because even the university’s professors approach this problem not always clearly. https://paperap.com/free-papers/media-bias/ made me understand that modern people live in a society where they suffer enough from all this media injustice. So, it is too hard to cope with, but my student research is to observe the influence of media bias on political views, so I am still trying to get deeper and get it clearer.

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