Can an Elite Education allow you to objectively evaluate Gun Violence?

Harvard's "The Crimson" demonstrates that even the most literate of our Young Americans cannot resist the lure of biased reportage when addressing the twin issues of Gun violence and Gun Control.

After recounting the shock of discovering that his Harvard classmates have become victims of gun violence, the author (ANDREW W. AOYAMA Apr 26, 2018) sinks to the same level of reaction as did the CDC decades ago.   He reports only one side of the issue:

Can an Elite Education Protect You from Gun Violence? | Magazine | The Harvard Crimson:

Hemenway cites the Dickey Amendment as a major hurdle in the path towards a realistic conversation about gun violence. The amendment, a 1996 congressional provision, effectively prohibits the Centers for Disease Control from using public funds to research gun violence. “The gun lobby didn’t like the results of early research funded by the CDC that found that having a gun in the house increases, not decreases, one’s risk of death,”  Hemenway says, referencing a landmark 1993 study that challenged the narrative often repeated by the National Rifle Association: that gun ownership allowed individuals to better protect their families.

Had Aoyama done his homework ... a concept which is apparently no longer taught at Harvard ... he would have discovered that the CDC had been found to be highly biased in reporting the findings of their research on Gun Violence.

Specifically, he would have learned that the reason  that CONGRESS pulled the reins on CDC reportage was that the federally funded research center reported on gun violence without balancing their reports with information about personal firearms which were used to protect citizens against gun violence.   This information had been casually gathered by CDC, but either not as thoroughly researched or else deliberately not reported.

Things Liberals Want You To Know About NRA President Lt. Col. Oliver North

Oliver North is a worthy successor to previous leaders of the National Rifle Association.  He represents the patriots of the Revolutionary War ... those who saw their duty, and did it.

Fortune Magazine recently published a very demure, quite civilized hit piece on Oliver North ... the new NRA president. Here are the Not-So-Fortunate slams:

1:  Iran-Contra scandal 

2: Iran-Contra scandle (conviction ... later over turned

3: long-standing NRA member (Fortune Mag considers this A Bad Thing?)

4: Ran for Senate a couple of decades ago and lost (1994)5: "His Election Baffled Gun-Control Advocates (!!!!!)

The central issues of North's career is that he negotiated a gun deal with Iran (which was not a political issue during the 1980's) which provided funding for the  anti-communist "Freedom Fighters" in Nicaragua ... who were battling to keep their country free from Communist Insurgents by using the funds to purchase arms

When charges were made against North, President Reagan interceded on North's behalf, under the defense that North was acting under the orders of his commander in chief.

That is, he (North) was acting as an agent of then-president Ronald Reagan (who was at the top of the American Military hierarchy.

I don't know if Reagan or North were justified in acting under the auspices of The Monroe Doctrine, but that american National Policy had been in place since 1983 and never rescinded. 

 North was NOT disobeying a direct command of his ultimate superior.   He was not "operating" as an independent agent; he was operating as an agent of the President.

Later, when Liberals grilled President Reagan in Iran-Contra hearings, Reagan accepted full responsibility for North's actions.

It is unfair for critics to insinuate that Oliver North is not a patriot, or a good soldier, because he became embroiled in a complicate military/political situation which was not of his making.  It's also unfair and petty of today's Liberals to denigrate the NRA because they have chosen a decorated soldier who has performed his duties to the best of his abilities ... with honor, and without apology.

Oliver North is a worthy successor to previous leaders of the National Rifle Association.  He represents the patriots of the Revolutionary War ... those who saw their duty, and did it.

And the fact that North ran for high public office and was defeated?  That' America, Baby! 

5 Things to Know About the NRA's New President Oliver North | Fortune:

The National Rifle Association has named Oliver North, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel known for his role in the Reagan Administration-era Iran-Contra scandal, as its new president. He will replace Pete Brownell, CEO of firearms accessory maker Brownells, leading the pro-gun organization in a few weeks. North has already stepped down from his contributor role at Fox News.

Remington Won't Sell Guns to ... who? Anyone with money? Get Outta Here!

Bank of America's loan to Remington tests its firearms pledge | Reuters:

“It’s perfectly reasonable for them (BOA) to say to any borrower, ‘We’re happy to lend to you if you don’t make military-style assault weapons,’” said Ted Gavin of the Gavin/Solmonese LLC restructuring advisory firm. “The lender has all the power.”

But if the lender is too picky about their customers .. they don't have any customers.
And there are plenty of other customers who really really want to upgrade their  product line with another Major Customer!!!!

(Watch for the "Cave-in" on this perfectly reasonable statement.)

Remington Firearms are perfectly legal.   When the "lender" has sufficiently milked the political  issue, the corporate position will shift just enough to accept perfectly legal firearms as a perfectly legal manufacturer's product.

And Remington Firearms can't stay in business if they don't sell guns.  

What other product do they have?  Popcorn?

Because   $$$,$$$,$$$

And banks don't loan money to companies which don't sell product.

Broad Statements Made to Prove a Political Point

Says "The Grime Report"  (sic)

Gun violence has overtaken motor vehicle accidents as a leading killer of young people in the US—second only to drug overdoses, says the Center for American Progress. 

There's no reason to doubt the statistics (which are only broadly stated), but there is reason to doubt the universal validity of the raw statistics cited by the Center for American Progress ... a liberal ("Progressive") website which is quick to blame the Second Amendment Rights of Americans for the tragic and all-too-pervasive slaughter wrought of American Youths.

The Report (see below) is quick to blame the "ready" availability of firearms for the high murder rates of young people on other young people.

Drill down the statistics, and you will see that the victims AND the victimizers are teen-age males residing in cities with an already too-high crime rate.

It's not the guns ... it's the society that is responsible for these high rates of gun violence.

If they weren't using guns (which are already illegal to possess by teenagers in all 50 states, without severe restrictions), they would be using knives.

(Search the crime rates by firearms in England, where possession of most guns are already either highly restricted, or completely forbidden; kids there are slaughtering each other using knives, and the anti-knife laws are as all-encompassing as are the anti-gun laws in, say, Chicago.)

The problem isn't guns, or knives; it's Society!

Young people who grow up in neighborhoods where opportunities for jobs, training and education are often limited because of the already prevalent reliance upon Cops rather that Jobs to keep the peace ... they don't have money, they can't support their families (parents without jobs; crime is too often the best way to support your family) ... and so they turn to crime.

These People who point the finger at "guns" as the source of societal ills, are using these teenagers as decoys.  The community is so busy fighting "crime" that they have neither the resources nor the impetus to recognize and address the economic causes of teen-age gun crimes.

THEY find it easier to look good on the Six o'clock News, making palatable quotes, than to make the really tough decisions about jobs opportunities, psychological support, ans spending more money on job opportunities than on buying Assault Vehicles.

Guns Kill More Young People Than Road Accidents: Study | The Crime ReportThe Crime Report:

See Original Quote below The Fold