by Ulysses Arn
In an email to his constituents on Thursday Illinois Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin continued to push some false statistics about the number of mass shootings that have occurred in the United States this year.
Durbin, playing off of Wednesday's Islamic terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, said in the email that there have been 352 mass shootings this year(the rest of liberalism has been pushing the number as 355 counting San Bernardino). This Durbin argues is reason enough to erode American citizens 2nd amendment right to keep and bear arms.
In the email Durbin calls for banning people on the No Fly List for being able to purchase a firearm, never mind that his late college Ted Kennedy was put on the No Fly List by mistake as have a multitude of other innocent Americans. Durbin's gun control list also includes having local law enforcement use a crime gun tacking system by the ATF, and to make gun trafficking a federal crime(something he is joined in by Illinois Republican Sen. Mark Kirk).
Durbin's email reads in part:
Every day, 297 people are shot by guns in America and 89 die from their injuries. By one count, there have been at least 352 mass shootings in America so far this year – more than one per day. America’s schools have seen more than 50 shootings this year.
These numbers are horrifying.
This cannot simply be accepted as normal.
To combat the scourge of gun violence in our communities, I’ve joined several of my colleagues in introducing common sense legislation to prevent gun violence and save lives.
Enough is enough. It’s time to summon the political will and act on gun violence.
- from Durbin's email
The email also includes a graphic depicting mass shootings. The misleading image has the Chattanooga terrorist attack from this summer, which saw several members of the US military murdered by an Islamic terrorist, covering the whole state of Alabama; the church shooting in South Carolina that claimed the lives of 9 people, somehow covers all of North Carolina and Virginia. Other incidents also cover whole states. I guess this must be for dramatic effect because it sure as heck isn't accurate or informative by any stretch of the imagination.
As the Daily Caller and Streiff writing at RedState have pointed out the 355 mass shootings in 2015 number, that Durbin couldn't accurately cut and paste from, is the product of a user group on Reddit that has picked through local news stories about shootings to come up with its numbers.
The Reddit group, which is openly hostile towards gun owners and the second amendment, uses a really low standard for what qualifies as a mass shooting.
So instead of using verifiable FBI statistics on mass shootings, or other trusted sources for the real numbers on mass shootings in the country, Durbin and the rest of the left in the country are using a number effectively pulled out of the butt of one anti-gun liberal. Why not just use Wikipedia for you information, it has as much credence and credibility as this one Reddit user, who goes by the screen handle Billy Speed.
For comparison sake Mother Jones', a far left outfit, also tracks mass shootings in the country, using criteria more in line with what the FBI uses, and they say there have only been 4 mass shooting in the US in 2015, and that includes San Bernardino.
FBI stats for 2015 mass shootings won't be available until sometime next year.
Guess there goes Durbin's impetus to curtail our constitutional rights.
