Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Editorial by the Houston Chronicle Endangers Texans Right to Keep and Bear Arms

As Texas Gunnies look forward to the upcoming legislative session and the battle to expand our recognised rights to keep and bear arms, other voices are advocating for exactly the opposite.

An editorial by the Houston Chronicle staff pretty much lays out their wish list for gun control legislation.

Border war

Guns don't kill people. Gangsters kill people. But Mexican narcotraffickers buy Texas guns, and thousands of people die as a result.
Decades of corruption and maleficence at all levels of the Mexican .gov and police departments has nothing to do with the violence on the Mexican side of our border, it is all the fault of "Texas guns".
No turn of phrase can hide the link between gun sales in Texas and the violence just over the border. If we want Mexico's cartels under control for our own security, we need to halt their incredibly easy access to military-grade weapons on this side of the border.
O.K., now you have my interest. Just where can I find this "...incredibly easy access to military-grade weapons on this side of the border"? If I want a "military-grade" firearm I have to get permission from my county's chief L.E.O., submit fingerprints, paperwork and $200 to the Feds, and wait four months or so for approval. This is all for a firearm that was built before 1986. Free Citizens have zero access to modern "military-grade" firearms.

Now you and I both know that the Chron is not talking about actual military-grade weapons in this editorial, they are talking about guns that look like military guns. You and I know there is a difference, many of the Chron's readers do not. This is not just an exaggeration on the part of the Chron editorial board, it is a falsification of facts intended to garner an anti-gun emotional response from their readers. It is, in fact, a lie. It is just one of the lies they attempt to get away with in this editorial.

The editorial goes on to point out that well over a thousand firearms found in Mexico were originally purchased here in Texas. They quote an article, from the Chron, that states most of these guns were purchased by "straw buyers".

The hysteria continues:
While buying guns is close to impossible in Mexico, consumers in Texas can purchase unlimited quantities of cheap imported assault weapons, or .50-caliber sniper rifles strong enough to shoot down helicopters. The stores peddling these weapons rarely break the law. The problem is there are few laws for them to break.
Read that one again. So what laws are not there for us to break? Oh... in this one little paragraph the Chron is advocating for an import ban, an assault weapons ban, a limit of how many firearms can be purchased, and a .50 caliber ban.

The rest of the editorial is just as bad. The author bemoans the fact that we can't trace firearms (while at the same time pointing out where they were purchased) and calls for firearm registration. You would think this editorial was penned by Sarah Brady herself.

The Pistolero has his take on this editorial.

5 comments:

TexasFred said...

Here's a unique idea...

Close the border, both ways, no one in, no one out, at anything other than a LEGAL, well manned and capable of full inspection border crossing...

Our guns don't get taken to Mexico if they are purchased by *straw men*, of if they were stolen from legal owners, whatever the case may be...

You just know that there's not some sympathizers, legal citizens of Mexican defense doing the purchase huh??

Theft, under the table buyers, somehow I seriously doubt that there are ANY folks like us sending guns to the Mexicans, maybe ATF, INS and a few others need to consider that angle...

And maybe the Chron writer needs a sharp rap across the nose with a Sunday paper...

Phillip said...

Y'know, when my granddad was working oil pipelines down in Texas, I imagine that they would've taken the editor and run him out of town on a rail, after tarring and feathering him.

I'm guessing y'all don't still do that. Kind of a shame, really.

the pistolero said...

Yep, they certainly made sure NOT to mention quite a few things when they wrote that.

Thirdpower said...

I saw that article yesterday (then clicked around and lost it). Shortly after, I saw another article about Mexican drug gangs throwing grenades into crowds, shootouts against the Mexican army using machineguns, etc.

I guess all this is being done by .38 revolvers and semi-autos being bought at gun shows and NOT what they're getting from corrupt Mexican officials.

Concerned Citizen said...

Ok, I just added this site to my blogroll.

Oh and if you find that incredibly easy access to military-grade weapons on this side of the border, please let me know. I want an FN P90.