Democrats responded pretty much as expected to the horrific shooting on the Michigan State University campus: Republicans are bad, guns are worse, the Second Amendment is crazy, and we need to regulate them all out of existence.
But if anything it proves that their knee-jerk reaction is dead wrong. Following Monday night’s East Lansing, Michigan shootings that left three dead and five injured:
- Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif.: “It’s very simple: you’re either here for the kids or the killers. Time and again, Republicans have chosen their side.”
- Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich.: "You either care about protecting kids, or you don't... Please don’t tell me you care about the safety of children if you are not willing to have a conversation about keeping them safe in a place that should be a sanctuary."
- State Rep. Ranjeev Puri, Democrat: “F*** your thoughts and prayers,” he said, explaining, “thoughts and prayers without action and change are meaningless.”
- President Joe Biden: “There's one thing we do know to be true: We have to do something to stop gun violence ripping apart our communities."
One of Biden’s most oft-repeated answers to gun violence is to ban AR-15-style rifles, variously described as “weapons of war” (they’re not), “automatic rifles” (they’re not), “fully semi-automatic weapons” (whatever that means), and “assault rifles” (only in the sense that the rock Cain used to murder his brother Abel was an “assault rock”).
Last year Whoopi Goldberg claimed during a debate on “The View” that an AR-15 would “turn people to dust.” She can be excused, however. She’s no expert and she often resorts to hyperbole when she gets heated. Plus, she’s not the sharpest tool in the cabinet.
However, last month an actual “expert” said that a .223 cal. round fired from an AR-15 was capable of cutting a person in half.
As if that weren’t enough, he testified that the rifle’s pistol grip, adjustable stock, and optional forward grip were designed to make the weapon “more lethal.”
But over and above that, studies have found that the 10-year ban on AR-15-style semi-automatic rifles had little-to-no effect on homicide rates.
And there’s a reason for that. Most gun-related homicides — including mass shootings — are committed with handguns. And there’s a reason for that: it’s pretty easy to conceal a handgun; it’s nearly impossible to conceal a rifle.
And that’s probably why Anthony McRae, the MSU shooter, used a handgun as well.
Some critics say that McRae shouldn’t have had access to a firearm, because he’d committed a gun-related felony in the past — and he had, according to the Washington Free Beacon.
The outlet reported that McRae would have been denied the ability to legally purchase a firearm had the felony firearm charges lodged against him 2019 not been dismissed by Carol Siemon, a George Soros-backed prosecutor.
“Siemon retired from the district attorney’s office at the start of this year after facing criticism from judges and law enforcement officials for her soft-on-crime policies,” the Free Beacon reported.
“The same year that McRae was released, Ingham County sheriff Scott Wriggelsworth pushed East Lansing’s city council ‘to reconsider her internal felony firearm charging policy,’ which he said ‘does not hold people properly criminally accountable, and increases the likelihood of additional gun violence,’” the report continued.
Finally, the shooting demonstrates the folly of “gun free” zones, like that at the MSU campus.
Femix Ammunition tweeted:
“MSU (Gun Free Zone)
“Uvalde (Gun Free Zone)
“Pulse Nightclub (no guns allowed)
“Parkland (Gun Free Zone)
“Sandy Hook (Gun Free Zone)
“VA Tech (Gun Free Zone)
“Columbine (Gun Free Zone)
“I wonder why these things keep happening,” they asked. “It's almost like they have something in common.”
There’s an MSU landmark called “The Rock,” which students use as a free expression billboard by painting messages on it.
On the day after the shootings someone had painted on The Rock, "How many more?" and "Stay Safe MSU,” followed by the image of a heart.
The following day that message was replaced with, ”Allow us to defend ourselves & carry on campus.”
In response to the shooting, Ryan Perry explained what had really led to the tragedy.
“Democrat prosecutors are soft on crime, allowing violent criminals to plead felonies down and avoid jail time. Because they aren’t felons, they pass background checks,” he tweeted.
“Tragic consequences for the victims and their families at Michigan State.
They deserved better than to live in a city run by Democrats.”
Perry has some experience in these matters. He’s the father of Alaina Petty, whose life was taken at the age of 14, along with 16 others, by a gunman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida.
He sent that message on Valentine’s Day — the fifth anniversary of that massacre. He probably would have rather done something else that day.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to Newsmax. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter. Read Michael Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.
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