Local News Anchor Gets it Wrong

[bjtraz]

There was a story on my local news station by a woman named Randi Naughton on Fox2News this morning. The jist of it was, that according to a "major mayor's group", the majority of guns found at crimes scenes come from just 10 states. The supposed reason for this is "lax gun laws" in these states. resulting in more crimes in other states, such as Missouri & Illinois. I couldn't stop yelling at the TV! My wife was laughing at me. 

Anyway, below is a copy of the email that I sent to her. I don't know if it will even get to her, or even make a difference. But it felt therapeutic writing it, and I could feel my blood pressure dropping with every word. 

Hi Randi,

I like your show and feel the information that I get is unbiased and entertaining. But the report this morning from the unnamed "mayors group" was misleading, at best. Possible incorrect information was obtained by your producers or writers. Possibly the unnamed "mayors group" is trying to push an agenda and only released information that furthered that agenda. It's even possible that the facts that they drew those interpretations from are inaccurate. But there is a lot of information missing and questionable accuracy from that story.

For starters, California, which was one of your "loosest gun laws state", is one of the MOST restrictive gun law states, if not the most restrictive in the United States. The other states listed have evolved from a very hunting and shooting rich culture, and allow their citizens a chance to continue enjoying that lifestyle. This alone questions the insinuation that this is caused by "loose gun laws".

Secondly, there was no mention of how those firearms went from being bought in those states to the crime in question. There is too much information missing to make an intelligent evaluation. Did the buyer commit those crimes? Did the buyer sell them to the criminals? Were the firearms part of a criminal conspiracy? Were the firearms stolen and then subsequently used/sold for criminal purposes?

Next we need to take into account how many people or firearms are sold in each of those states in relation to all other states. Your report didn't include if the evaluation was based on total number of firearms confiscated versus percentage of illegal firearms. The states listed are some of the most populated in the country. Extrapolating off of that, it stands to reason that more firearms are sold in those states, and more are stolen/used in crimes. By the way, in this same time period (not reported), how many firearms were sold in those states? What percentage of total sold ended up in crime scenes? I'm willing to wager that it is a very small number.

Finally and most importantly, we need to note federal law. Every firearm sold or transferred by a Federal Firearm License holder has to include a FBI background check (NICS). This is required by Federal Law to insure that the buyer is legally allowed to take possession of that firearm.

As a side note, you didn't mention what the name of the "mayors group" was. While I don't like to assume, I'm guessing it is the same one that has mislead and outright lied to it's members since day one. The one founded by gun control extraordinaire, the mayor of New York City. You didn't mention how many of the early members of that group have resigned and asked that their names not be associated with it after it came to light that the TRUE agenda of the group was gun control, not crime reduction as claimed. Because numbers have proven, they are mutually exclusive.

Brian Alcaraz
brian@alcaraz.org

[fightingquaker13]

We got that in a blurb on page two of our local paper. Almost word for word. I guess these folks just reguritate whatever UPI or AP or Reuters prints and don't even bother to think about, much less investigate it. I could go off on a rant here, but you all know the song.
FQ13

[Pecos Bill]

BJ, I saw the same report on a "competing" station who did name the "mayors" group. Only saw it once. You're correct about the group and its founder. Nice letter though. Randi works for a station that used to give favorable reports on hunting till it was sold. Now ... you get the idea.

Pecos

[PegLeg45]

Good going, Brian.
It is up to us, as citizens to try to set the record straight whenever we have the opportunity...and that starts at the local home front. We have to call them on their errors.

Peg

[tombogan03884]

NO SHRUG POLICY !
But FQ nailed it for once, these pinheads, (They were called "Newsreaders" before ego kicked in )
Just read what AP and assoc. send them. No fact checking, no proof reading,  a lot of times when the face mispronounces a word on air, it's misspelled in the script.

[Sponsor]

[Solus]

Ahhh...Ted Baxter...

The "Father" of the Modern News Anchor.

[mkm]

I just found this on my local news.  Seems like Mississippi did a little better job with their coverage.

Here's the link, hopefully.
http://www.wcbi.com/article.php?subaction=showfull&id=1285686939&archive=&start_from=&ucat=2,4,5&

Gun Report Doesn't Impress State Leaders

By The Associated Press Nems360.Com
JACKSON -- Nearly half of the guns that crossed state lines and were used in crimes in 2009 were sold in Mississippi and nine other states, according to a report from a mayors' group.

States were also ranked by the number of crime guns exported per 100,000 inhabitants. Mississippi led that list, followed by West Virginia, Kentucky, Alaska, Alabama, South Carolina, Virginia, Indiana, Nevada and Georgia.

Those states, the report said, have more relaxed gun laws, suggesting that "criminals and gun traffickers may favor certain states as the sources of guns."

The findings by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, an association of more than 500 mayors, made little impression on Mississippi leaders.

"Criminals are going to get guns wherever they are," said Senate Judiciary B Committee Chairman Gray Tollison, D-Oxford. "The Second Amendment is very strong, and that is not going to change in terms of somebody's right to purchase a gun, especially in Mississippi."

The study used data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to trace guns used in crimes back to their state of purchase. According to the report, in 2009 Mississippi accounted for 50.3 guns used in crimes per 100,000 residents.

House Judiciary A Committee Chairman Ed Blackmon, D-Canton, said a "cavalier attitude toward life" that results in violent crime in other states should not be laid at Mississippi's doorstep.

"We are very tolerant of gun ownership, and, therefore, we don't have any laws that unnecessarily burden those who want to purchase guns," he said. "Mississippi does not bear the responsibility for the social ills of the world."

[fightingquaker13]

You left off the end of his statement. It read like this.


PS f..k YOU BLOOMBERG!
PPS Since when are a bunch of dead Yankees a bad thing?
FQ13

[WatchManUSA]

JACKSON -- Nearly half of the guns that crossed state lines and were used in crimes in 2009 were sold in Mississippi and nine other states, according to a report from a mayors' group.

I’m real suspect of the validity of the work done to trace the source of a gun.  I work in a gun shop and I had a discussion with the owner about tracing gun ownership.  According to him a gun can only be traced effectively starting with the manufacturer.  They know who they sold a gun to, in most cases to a distributor.  The distributor probably sells it to a gun shop.  The gun shop sells it to a person.  And so it goes.

The only way this trace happens is with court orders.  The shop I work at will not disclose information without the proper paperwork.  This information is private and protected and there is a legal process used to access this information.

So how did Bloomberg get his information, and how valid is it?

[deepwater]

HA!!! I'm out in the middle of the pacific and heard about this o ne. though the article I read did mention the 'certain mayor's group' by name. MAIG. the rag we get out here is copy and pasted in some office and sent to us via e-mail. about ten pages of 'stuff'. first time I have seen anything like it in this paper though. also note that we have noticed that the articles contradict themselves one day to the next. quite amusing at times. anyway, teh rest of the crew who know nothing of MAIG saw the article and just could not believe they would print such outrageous bs without proof or citing sources. I think they will be hurting themselves by publishing more of this type of story. stupid.

anyway, must return to work and make some more gun money. 
and then, when I get my vacation check, a nice pile-o-ammo. 
deepwater