Here’s the video from the 11 o’clock news on NBC17. It appears to be the entire 11 PM newscast rather than the short bits broken up for each individual story. This will allow you to see how they set the story up. The local vigil starts around the 2:15 mark.
Sadly none of my press release info made it into the story. Honestly I’m glad they used the quote that they had. They even managed to spell my name incorrectly in the print version of the story.
She was trying to get me to answer the “do you support ANY gun control at all?” Nice try, but no dice. I’ve been listening to David Codrea for too long to fall for that question. Control the criminals, and guns will cease to be an issue. Fail to control the criminals and murder will happen no matter what you ban.
Here’s what my press release said:
Brady Campaign focuses on the wrong victims
Today, in a strange attempt to honor the victims of “gun” violence, the Brady Campaign and local anti-gun groups are asking us to light a candle to remember those victims. Once again, the gun grabbers focus on the wrong victims. The Brady Campaign points to a few sympathetic victims of crime while whitewashing the backgrounds of the majority of those murdered in North Carolina. Research has shown again and again that the majority of murderers and the majority of those killed are criminals engaged in the ordinary course of their illegal trade.
Here in Raleigh in 2010, the last year in which we have reasonably complete data, there were 14 murders and non-negligent homicides. Only one of those killings is still considered unsolved with no suspect in custody or prison. Of those 14 victims, 6 had no apparent prior criminal convictions and 8 were convicted criminals. In the 13 killings that are considered solved, with a suspect either in custody or convicted, 4 were committed by a suspect or suspects that appear to have no prior convictions. The other 9 suspected or convicted of these killings were previously convicted criminals. This means that more than half of all homicide victims in Raleigh in 2010 were known criminals, and almost three fourths of all suspected killers were as well.
For some reason, the Brady Campaign and their associated anti-rights organizations focus only on “gun” deaths, as if it was somehow better to be stabbed or beaten to death. If we, as they insist, focus solely on those killed with a gun, the picture doesn’t look any better. In 2010 there were 9 homicides committed with a firearm. Of those, only 2 were people who had no apparent criminal convictions. As for the killers, 8 of the killings are considered solved, and 5 of those suspected or convicted of these crimes are previously convicted felons.
Bear in mind that these are convictions we are talking about. FOAC-NC has not had the time to research the arrest records of either suspects or victims. It is certainly possible that some of the victims, and certainly some of the suspects would have previous arrests.
FOAC-NC believes that the solution to crime is criminal control, not gun control. In 5 of the 8 firearm related homicides in Raleigh in 2010, the suspect was barred by federal law from merely possessing a firearm. As Chairman of FOAC-NC Sean Sorrentino put it “How many more laws do they want? The laws against felons having guns failed. The laws against shooting those guns at people failed. The laws against killing people failed. What sort of laws do they imagine will work against people for whom every other law failed?”
In most of the homicides in Raleigh in 2010, known criminals were involved. In fact, only 3 of the 14 homicides occurred between a victim and a suspect where neither had a prior criminal conviction. One would think that the solution would be obvious. One would think that imposing stiff sentences on criminals would have the effect of isolating them away from the rest of society. It’s hard to cause trouble in society when you are locked behind bars far away from it. Instead, the gun banners wish to impose ever stricter laws on the law abiding gun owners. They want stricter background checks. They want further restrictions of the rights of Concealed Handgun Permit holders. They even want to go back to the old Jim Crow era of only issuing Concealed Handgun Permits to people that the Sheriff thinks “suitable.” We all know what “suitable” used to mean. Why would we imagine that it would be different now?
The Brady Campaign and their paid activist allies here in North Carolina are once again focusing on the wrong victims. The real victims in this revolving door justice system are the law abiding citizens caught in the crossfire. We are left to fend for ourselves in a world where the rights of convicted criminals count for more than the rights of the honest citizens. We are subject to further attacks against our right to keep and bear arms by those who use the blood of those homicide victims, all the while glossing over the fact that the majority of them were actively involved in criminal activities.
The fact that the Brady Campaign would use the blood of criminals to attack honest gun owners is reprehensible and should be rejected by all decent people.
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