From her blog:
We have almost the highest, if not the highest, number of gun deaths per capita of any country not at war.
This here clearly shows that she has yet to do any fact finding on her own, or rely on any other source for facts. A quick Google search turns up some information. Looking at Wiki (and I don't usually use wiki for my source of information), there is a list of countries sorted by the 'gun death' rate. The United States isn't even in the top 10, we're listed at number 13. At the time this information was compiled, the firearm related homicide rate for the US was 4.14, the highest rate was 74.57 for South Africa. South Africa, by the way, has very strict gun control laws which require testing, background checks, inspection of one's home, firearm registration and a minimum waiting period of at least two years. Here's a wiki on it, because I'm too lazy to check their source.
She continues her tirade with
We are truly on a slippery slope to allowing anyone to carry a gun anywhere with impunity and with no accountability or punishment for shooting another human being. Such are the consequence of the Stand Your Ground or Shoot First laws passed in many states over the past decade.
Not quite. Federal and state laws still prohibits certain classes of people from carrying firearms and ammunition. Those include convicted felons, the mentally ill, persons convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence and persons with restraining orders.
The Stand Your Ground laws allow a person to protect themselves from criminals without having a duty to retreat. That brings up another question that I've posted about before. How far should a person have to retreat? The simple solution here is DON'T BE A CRIMINAL, STOP ROBBING AND RAPING!
And then she just out right lies:
With few or no standards, anyone, and I do mean anyone, would be allowed to carry. And to make matters worse, the National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011 would take away a state's right to regulate who can carry guns and the requirements to actually know anything about guns before you carry one around with you. So every state would have to allow 18 year olds who have permission to carry a gun around in some states, like Arizona, without a permit or proof of competence in handling a gun.
Anyone, really? See the above.
What the Reciprocity Act does is allow anyone with a LICENSE to conceal a firearm, carry in any other state that issues a LICENSE as long as you conform the laws of the state that you are visiting. Just like a licensed driver can drive in any other state. The Act does not allow unlicensed people to conceal a firearm in any state. Of course, the antis must lie to try to get their flawed point across.
Further on down her post, she continues:
The pro gun extremists don't care if felons, domestic abusers, dangerously mentally ill people, terrorists and others who should not have guns get them.
I have been grouped in with the 'pro gun extremists', maybe I am extreme, maybe not but personally, I do care, but not to the point that it infringes on an innocent citizen's rights.
The remainder of her post is ridiculous, fear mongering (the same she accuses the gun owners of doing) and outrageous accusations.
What Joan and the rest of her cohorts fail to mention is that gun violence along with all violent crime is on a decline. Since these 'outrageous' gun laws have been passed to allow citizens to carry firearms and protect themselves, we've seen violent crime rates fall. According to the 2010 FBI Uniform Crime Report, in 2010 violent crime was down 6% from 2009. When considering 5- and 10-year trends, the 2010 estimated violent crime total was 13.2 percent below the 2006 level and 13.4 percent below the 2001 level.
What the anti-rights establishment is CLAIMING to want, is already happening. A 6% drop in gun related crimes in ONE year. Furthermore, in the 2011 preliminary report, violent crime dropped 6.4% from the same period in 2010.
What the anti-rights establishment really wants, is to outlaw gun ownership for the average citizen.
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