THREE MADISON AWARDS GIVEN FOR PRO-GUN ARTICLES AND EDITORIALS
The Second Amendment Foundation is proud to announce that The New York Post, Tucker Carlson, and the Tempe Daily News Tribune will receive James Madison Awards this quarter. Madison Awards are given in the spirit of James Madison, Fourth U.S. President and author of the Second Amendment.
The first recipient is The New York Post for their editorial entitled, "The Folly of Gun Control", which ran on April 15, 1996. The editorial began by recounting several recent mass murders in foreign countries. Specifically, the rampage by Mark V. Chahal, who killed nine people at a wedding in British Columbia and the slaughter by Thomas Hamilton, who killed 16 pupils and their teacher in Scotland were examined.
The paper noted that, "These horrific episodes -- although they took place 6,000 miles apart -- have something intriguing in common: The U.S. gun-control lobby greeted both with deafening silence."
The editorial then proclaimed that, "It is safe to say that if these massacres had occurred anywhere in the U.S., politicians who specialize in milking violent tragedies to publicize the gun-control cause would have rushed to the nearest television cameras to demand tougher gun laws." A Mississippi state shooting was listened as an example for another "public-relations barrage" for more gun control.
"In fact, the U.K. and Canada are often cited for their model gun-control legislation," reminded the paper. Even so, ". . . Both killers managed to navigate labyrinths meant to impede legal firearms ownership."
The editorial then admitted something that gun owners have known all along, "The tragedies there demonstrate that laws far more restrictive than those that obtain in the U.S. aren’t obstacles to folks determined to commit violent crimes." In fact, the article concluded with, "The only certain consequence of such legislation is to discourage law-abiding citizens from trying to defend themselves against would-be assailants."
Our second Madison Award goes to Tucker Carlson for his analysis of guns as a "public health" issue. His article, entitled "Handgun Control, M.D.", appeared in the April 15, 1996 edition of The Weekly Standard.
His article began by reporting on a rally of doctors in Washington, D.C. for, "The latest addition to America’s ever-expanding definition of health care: gun control." One pediatrician was quoted as saying, "Guns are a virus that must be eradicated." Guns were also considered a "pathogen" and gun violence an "epidemic" by this group.
Their way of thinking was debunked by Mr. Carlson when he stated that, "For one thing, guns aren’t pathogens; . . . Genuine pathogens, as any doctor knows, cause disease when introduced into a pathogen-free environment. Considering that there are more than 200 million privately owned firearms in the United States, only a minuscule fraction of which are ever used in acts of violence, guns don’t qualify under this definition."
The "epidemic" argument was also discredited by the fact that gun related deaths have remained fairly constant in recent years. Furthermore, Mr. Carlson correctly pointed out that, "Far more Americans still die each year from pneumonia and influenza than perish in all -- not just gun related -- homicides and suicides combined."
Gun grabbers constantly profess that, "a gun in the home is 43 times more likely to be used to kill a family member or friend than a criminal intruder." This bogus claim is discredited in three ways.
First, Mr. Carlson noted that suicides are included and therefore the number of deaths involving family members and friends are greatly increased. He then correctly pointed out that, "Some of the countries with the world’s strictest gun-control laws -- Japan, Hungary, Cuba -- also have the highest rates of suicide."
Second, and more importantly, Mr. Carlson cited, "The major problem with the statistic, however, is that it measures self-defense by the number of ‘criminals intruders’ killed. In real life, homeowners use handguns much more often as deterrents than as means of deadly force." To back up this statistic, Mr. Carlson invoked the works of criminologist Gary Kleck, who found that guns are used 2 million times per year for self protection.
Third, other studies show that gun ownership is more prevalent in the rural areas, where crime is lower than in urban centers. Based on these facts, it seems these doctors have misdiagnosed both the disease and the cure.
Mr. Carlson concluded by stating that, "The arguments that surround gun violence are complicated, the obvious conclusions often less obvious than they appear. Perhaps it is a subject that, as a doctor might say, is best left to the experts.
Our third recipient is the Tempe Daily News Tribune for its editorial entitled, "Criticism of Gun Ads. Missing the Target." Sarah Brady and the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence are criticized for trying to ban advertisements for firearms through the Federal Trade Commission.
An ad in Women and Guns magazine, one of SAF’s own publications, and another in Ladies’ Home Journal are two of Mrs. Brady’s targets. Once again, gun grabbers claimed that, "Keeping a gun in the home is strongly associated with an increased risk of both homicide and suicide."
The editorial countered with, "But skilled, conscientious gun owners can and do successfully protect themselves and their loved ones. And the Constitution guarantees law-abiding citizens that option."
"Banning gun ads won’t solve the negligence problem," continued the editorial. "And do we really want or need the government mandating more warning notices?"
The editorial concluded by recommending that, Brady focus on safety training for those who choose to own guns. To date, the gun grabbers have never cared about gun safety, but countless thousands of gun rights advocates have spent millions of hours teaching it for many years.