What complete nonsense. This piece is full of misinformation and outright lies.
“Does the Board of Trustees find it acceptable that 115,000 people in the United States have been killed by gun violence…” What is “gun violence”? Is it any more acceptable that people are killed in automobile accidents, knifed to death, or commit suicide through overdoses?
“Is the social harm caused by the 36 mass shootings that have occurred since the tragedy at Sandy Hook not clear enough to Boston University?” How many people are killed by these “mass shootings” every year? What is the trend? And how does it compare to other causes of death? In what way is the production and availability of guns to law abiding citizens responsible for these mass shootings?
“On February 14, 14 children and 3 teachers were murdered at a high school in Parkland, Fla. In the two months since then, there have been 9 more shootings at schools. How many more children need to die in their classrooms before Boston University finds that the circumstances are clear enough to take action?” When one examines the facts, it is clear that first, the perpetrator was mentally ill and violent. He was reported multiple times to local authorities and the FBI and they did nothing. Furthermore, he was enabled by a policy, pushed by the Obama Regime and the school board of not reporting criminal behavior. Clearly the problem is not guns, themselves, which are merely tools, but the culture and policies that enable these tragedies. As far as the link you provide to the other ” 9 more shootings at schools” it provides no support for your position. Obviously 1 school shooting is too much, but in a nation of 325M people, that’s a pretty minimal number.
“Every week, 25 children die from gun violence in the United States.” Define “gun violence”. From the article you cite, “They found that the annual rate of firearm homicides among African-American children (3.5 per 100,000) was nearly 10 times the rate among whites.” Doesn’t sound like a gun problem, but a cultural problem.
“The firearms industry, especially the National Rifle Association (NRA), continues to manipulate the American political realm, fighting against regulations that are proven to make us safer.” No. It is you and your ilk that manipulates the “American political realm”, whatever that is, twisting facts and exploiting tragedies.
“The NRA spent millions of dollars in campaign contributions in 2016, buying their way onto lawmakers’ agendas.” It’s a shame that people with which you disagree band together in voluntary organizations to lobby the government to protect their natural and constitutionally guaranteed rights…according to you.
“The NRA wants to prohibit doctors from talking to suicidal patients about guns, when we know that the majority of firearms deaths in this country are from suicides rather than homicides.” No, the NRA opposes the politicization of healthcare, as should every sane person. Guns are not healthcare.
“The NRA opposes an assault weapons ban, background checks, and raising the minimum age to purchase a firearm” This is a flat-out LIE. First, real “assault weapons” that are, essentially automatic weapons are already highly restricted. These, so called, “assault weapons” you’re alluding to are nothing more than common semi-automatic rifles which are functionally no different than many rifles in common use for hunting and other purposes. In fact, the AR-15, about which you and your ilk wish to foment hysteria differs only in its looks and the ability to add accessories. Its rounds are also, in its most common form actually relatively low power .223, which aren’t even legal for hunting large game such as deer in most jurisdictions. Also, most people that are killed by firearms are killed by handguns, not rifles, so banning these “assault weapons” would do almost nothing. The NRA does not oppose background checks and is fully in favor of keeping firearms away from felons, the mentally ill, and others who should not possess firearms. But, since possessing a weapon to defend oneself is a natural and constitutionally guaranteed right, it should only be restricted after due process. It is true that many, including the NRA, oppose raising the minimum age to purchase firearm. But in what world does it make sense to prevent an 18 year old adult, who otherwise is responsible and entitled to the rights of citizen–to vote and to serve in the military–from purchasing firearms, especially since it does nothing but restrict their rights with no enhancement of safety?
“The firearms industry wants anyone to have access to a bump stock, the tool that enabled the shooter in Las Vegas last year to fire 9 rounds per second, killing 58 people and injuring 851 in 10 minutes.” This is complete nonsense. Why don’t you get educated on what bump stock is and isn’t by reading the following: http://thefederalist.com/2017/10/09/411-bump-stocks-everyones-talking-las-vegas-shooting/ and http://thefederalist.com/2018/02/22/trumps-proposed-bump-stock-ban-either-lawless-stupid/ A bump stock didn’t enable the killing of more people. It was the shooter’s protected and advantageous position that enabled the killing of so many. Bump stocks provide virtually no advantage and actually reduce accuracy. It’s likely the shooter could have killed many more by the enhanced accuracy of not using a bump stock.
“In 2005, the NRA and the firearms industry successfully conned Congress into shielding gunmakers and gun sellers from being accountable for the harm that their products cause. Is this the type of industry that Boston University wants to profit from?” Nobody was conned into doing anything. Do we hold manufacturers of knives accountable when people are stabbed and slashed? Do we hold automotive manufacturers liable when someone intentionally runs down a person or drives drunk. This was a common sense reaction to the hysteria and attempts to restrict the rights of citizens through stealth.
“We know that meaningful gun control reduces gun violence. We know that restrictions on gun ownership reduce mass shootings. We know that when there are fewer guns around, there are fewer suicides. What evidence could make the circumstances more clear for the Board of Trustees?” No. We don’t. What we can see is that people intending to do violence will find a way to commit violence in the absence of the availability of firearms, whether it is knives, machetes (as London is now teaching us), bombs, clubs, bike chains, and all manner of means of committing violence. We can see that in some areas of the country with far more firearms there’s virtually no people dying from violence from firearms, while in many cities with the most restrictive firearms regulations look like a war zone. Why? Why the difference? It’s not the guns. It’s the people. It’s the culture. It’s their local governments that let criminals run free and harm innocent people.
Stop lying. Also, there are many circumstances when a weaker individual has protected themselves from violence because they were armed. You don’t care about them, apparently.
