The Daily Hatch

John Stossel report “Myth: Gun Control Reduces Crime

Sadly another mass murder happened last night. This time it was at a midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Colorado. Over 50 people were shot by a gunman and many died as the Arkansas Times reported.

This will start the gun control debate again and the conservative answer to this will always be the same. Criminals will get the guns even if there is lots of gun control but only the honest people will not have them. The answer to this problem is the second amendment right that everyone has in the USA to carry guns for their own protection. Dan Mitchell has editorial cartoon that demonstrates this principle very well. I have actually written the White House about gun control and the White House actually responded with an email on May 23, 2012.

Let handle a couple of myths out there:

Both John Brummett and Max Brantley have made it clear that they support gun control. I am going to start a series today debunking popular myths about guns and gun control.

During this series on gun control, I will be quoting from an article “Gun Control:Myths and Realities” by David Lampo of the Cato Institute.

4. States that allow registered citizens to carry concealed weapons have lower crime rates than those that don’t.

This happens to be true. The 31 states that have “shall issue” laws allowing private citizens to carry concealed weapons have, on average, a 24 percent lower violent crime rate, a 19 percent lower murder rate and a 39 percent lower robbery rate than states that forbid concealed weapons. In fact, the nine states with the lowest violent crime rates are all right-to-carry states. Remarkably, guns are used for self-defense more than 2 million times a year, three to five times the estimated number of violent crimes committed with guns.

European Economic Crisis Highlights an Increasingly Important Reason to Oppose Gun Control

Uploaded by NRAVideos on Dec 1, 2011

Glenn Beck’s guest mentions Mike Ross and 65 other Democrats upset at Gun Control bills sent up by White House

“I would close the gun show loophole…” President Clinton on NBC’s Tom Brokaw discusses gun control with the president, April 12, 2000)

This is the second in a series on Gun Control. During this series on gun control, I will be quoting from an article “Gun Control:Myths and Realities” by David Lampo of the Cato Institute.

2. Gun shows are responsible for a large number of firearms falling into the hands of criminals.

False. Contrary to President Clinton’s claims, there is no “gun show loophole.” All commercial arms dealers at gun shows must run background checks, and the only people exempt from them are the small number of non-commercial sellers. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, at most 2 percent of guns used by criminals are purchased at gun shows, and most of those were purchased legally by people who passed background checks.

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More details from last night’s tragic shooting:

Police are pictured outside of a Century 16 movie theatre where as many as 12 people were killed and many injured …A lone gunman burst into a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., at a midnight showing of the latest Batman film, “The Dark Knight Rises,” and opened fire, killing at least 12 people and injuring at least 50, police said.

A 24-year-old suspect, who was apprehended at the scene, was clad in a bullet-proof vest and riot helmet when he crashed into the movie theater from an emergency exit door at the front of the auditorium, setting off a smoke bomb and then shooting off dozens of rounds from multiple firearms, police told ABC News.

The man was caught by police in the parking lot of the Century 16 Movie Theaters, nine miles outside of Denver, after police began receiving dozens of 911 calls at 12:39 a.m. MT. He was carrying a gas mask, rifle, and handgun, and police believe at least one other gun was left in the movie theater. Police said the suspect mentioned having explosives stored, leading them to evacuate his entire North Aurora apartment complex and search the buildings.

Dozens of victims were taken to local hospitals, including a child as young as 6 years old.

Witnesses said that the man stalked the aisles of the theater as panicked movie-watchers in the packed theater tried to escape.

“The suspect throws tear gas in the air, and as the tear gas appears he started shooting,” said Lamar Lane, who was watching the midnight showing of the movie with his brother. “It was very hard to breathe. I told my brother to take cover. It took awhile. I started seeing flashes and screaming, I just saw blood and people yelling and a quick glimpse of the guy who had a gas mask on. I was pushed out. There was chaos, we started running.”

Witnesses described the confusion as the smoke bomb filled the theater and the man opened fire.

“We were maybe 20 or 30 minutes into the movie and all you hear, first you smell smoke, everybody thought it was fireworks or something like that, and then you just see people dropping and the gunshots are constant,” witness Christ Jones told ABC’s Denver affiliate KMGH. “I heard at least 20 to 30 rounds within that minute or two.”

A man who talked to a couple who was inside the theater told ABC News, “They got up and they started to run through the emergency exit, and that when she turned around, she said all she saw was the guy slowly making his way up the stairs and just firing at people, just picking random people,” he said. “The gunshot continued to go on and on and then after we didn’t hear anything,” the couple told the man, “we finally got up and there was people bleeding, there was people obviously may have been actually dead or anything, and we just ran up out of there, there was chaos everywhere.”

Witnesses and victims were taken to Gateway High School for questioning.

There’s about 100 FBI agents on the scene assisting with the investigation, according to the local special agent in charge. Once apprehended, the gunman told authorities that there were explosives in his North Aurora residence. Investigators rushed to the apartment complex, which was quickly evacuated and is now under lockdown. A senior official who is monitoring the situation in Washington said that early guidance based on the early snapshot of this man’s background indicated that this act does not appear to be linked to radical terrorism or anything related to Islamic terrorism.

In a statement, President Obama said, “Michelle and I are shocked and saddened by the horrific and tragic shooting in Colorado. Federal and local law enforcement are still responding, and my administration will do everything that we can to support the people of Aurora in this extraordinarily difficult time. We are committed to bringing whoever was responsible to justice, ensuring the safety of our people, and caring for those who have been wounded.”

Investigators confirmed that explosives were found. It is unclear if they were scheduled to detonate or if it was part of a stockpile.

Though police have said that they believe the shooter was acting alone, they checked all cars in the parking lot and cleared thge area near the theater.

Patrons in the theater where the shooting took place, along with those in an adjacent theater also viewing the action-packed movie, were unsure of what was happening, although bullets penetrated the adjacent theater. A man who was in the adjacent theater with his son, said that the commotion began as one of the action scenes was starting up.

“These guys came through, and they say someone’s shooting,” he said. “I thought, ‘Oh, they must have heard the fireworks, you know … I had no idea. And then the alarms started to go off in the theater.'”

An explosive device was also found inside the movie house. Police are not sure whether the device, which investigators are calling a bomb, was already in place or whether it was thrown into the crowd.

Ambulances rushed to the scene as audience members fled the theater. Aurora’s police chief said that he could not elaborate on women or children injured or dead in the shooting.

Investigators are now interviewing friends and associates of the suspect to get a sense of the man’s background.