Debunking 4 Major Myths of an Assault Weapons Ban (Part 2)
What’s wrong with reasonable restrictions to stem the mass shooting epidemic?
Last week, I queried readers with 10 questions related to the unabated epidemic of mass gun violence in America.
I also called on President Biden to leverage his executive authority by declaring a National Emergency to stem the carnage of mass shootings by prohibiting the selling and manufacturing of assault weapons.
These include AR-15 rifles — the so-called “weapon of choice” for mass shooters — and similar military-style firearms widely considered to be weapons of war by most unbiased people.
As anticipated, several gun proponents responded with strong viewpoints to the contrary (see Part 1 below).
However, I consider many of these pro-gun arguments to be based on myths, fears and stereotypes propagated by the powerful gun lobby in concert with the Republican Party at the national and state levels.
The goal of such a sustained disinformation campaign is to indoctrinate gun owners to oppose any reasonable restrictions on firearms, period — regardless of whether such measures are smart, sensible and consistently supported by majorities of the public (based on national opinion polls).
