By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
It has been called “gun safety legislation,” “gun reform,” and “gun responsibility,” but it all boils down to the same thing: gun control.
And lately, the gun prohibition lobby and its allies in the media and government from town councils to Congress have been using a new bit of grammatical camouflage to make the same old thing sound more reasonable.
The term is “gun violence prevention.” Wipe away all the fluff and you wind up with the same thing, simply repackaged.
In the aftermath of a pair of multiple shootings in Minneapolis, inforum.com ran this headline: “2 mass shootings in Minneapolis over the weekend fuel calls for gun violence prevention.” To its credit, the subhead acknowledged, “Calls for gun control continue in the wake of recent shootings ahead of the November election and on the heels of a failed legislative fight.”
Other news reports about gun control have not been so candid.
The National Urban League recently announced plans for Chicago by declaring, “Local Leaders Call for Designated Gun Violence Prevention Department in Chicago.”
The story explained, “Some community members and faith leaders believe creating a so-called Department of Gun Violence Prevention could help keep people safe in Chicago.” The Urban League asserted this new agency would “support community-based solutions and ensure the department exists regardless of who is in City Hall.”
One familiar name popped up: Father Michael Pfleger. For a man of the cloth, he’s been busy for many years stirring up trouble against local gun stores in Cook County.
Over in Michigan, gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson is saying, according to this video, calling “gun violence prevention (a) top priority in” that state’s race. Benson is currently Michigan’s secretary of state, and according to a profile at Wikipedia, she’s a member of the Democratic Party and is a former law school dean.
In upper New York, Spectrum reported over the weekend that “Law enforcement and community groups in the cities of Buffalo and Niagara Falls are receiving state funding after multiple Fourth of July weekend shootings.”
According to the headline, “Violence prevention funding awarded to Buffalo, Niagara Falls after Fourth of July weekend shootings.” The story explains, “The effort comes as part of the state’s Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) initiative, SNUG Street Outreach program and Project RISE (Respond, Invest, Sustain, Empower). Funding will be administered by the state Division of Criminal Justice Services.”
Earlier this year, Ohio state Rep. Darnell T. Brewer, a Cleveland Democrat, quickly reacted to an incident in which a toddler suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound with an unsecured firearm. As a politician, Brewer’s response was to call for another law.
“Rep. Brewer Urges Calls for Immediate Action on Gun Violence Prevention Legislation After Another Ohio Child Shot,” read the headline of his news release.
Whatever anti-gunners prefer to call it, their efforts all amount to gun control. Call it by another name, it’s still the same thing.
