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Newspaper: "40% No-Check Claim is "Mostly False"

Friday, May 8, 2015

Newspaper: "40% No-Check Claim is "Mostly False"

As one of our great national leaders once said when repeatedly confronted with specious and insubstantial arguments, “There you go again.”

We could cite plenty of examples used by proponents of gun control in this regard, but for the moment we’re talking about the claim that 40 percent of firearms are sold without a background check. Readers may recall that two years ago, FactCheck.org discredited the claim in depth and the Washington Post Fact Checker thereafter gave President Obama “Three Pinocchios” for using it in a White House speech.

That should have been embarrassing enough to have sent gun control supporters back to the drawing board, but instead they’ve doubled down. Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown front group now uses the “40 percent” claim--and its corollary “6.6 million firearms” claim--here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

That brings us to Timothy Kaine, the former Virginia governor and Democratic Party chairman elected to the U.S. Senate in 2012.  Kaine repeated the “40 percent” claim on the floor of the Senate last month, but the Richmond, Va., Times-Dispatch is calling him on the lie.  The newspaper points out that the authors of the study on which the claim is supposedly based say that only 14 to 22 percent of firearms were sold without a check when the study was conducted 21 years ago (before gun dealers were required to run checks under federal law), and they “don’t know” if the same figures would be correct today.  The Times-Dispatch’s conclusion: the “40 percent” claim is “mostly false.”

Gun control supporters will probably continue using the claim anyway. But why they think that it helps them to exaggerate the number of private firearm sales is a mystery. Claiming that there are millions of firearms sold without a background check, while the nation’s murder rate is at about an all-time low, tends to endorse, rather than to disparage, private gun sales.

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Monday, February 3, 2025

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Across the country, voters disappointed with President Trump’s election are coping with their feelings in various ways.

The Hearing Protection Act Introduced in the 119th Congress

News  

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

The Hearing Protection Act Introduced in the 119th Congress

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Urge Congress to Protect Your Right to Carry – Contact Your Member of Congress Today!

News  

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

Urge Congress to Protect Your Right to Carry – Contact Your Member of Congress Today!

Dear NRA Member: U.S. Representative Richard Hudson (R-NC) has reintroduced the Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act (H.R. 38). Representative Hudson, the longstanding champion of this legislation, along with more than 120 of his colleagues have ...

Colorado: Senate Postpones Vote on Semi-Auto Ban

Friday, January 31, 2025

Colorado: Senate Postpones Vote on Semi-Auto Ban

Today, January 31st, the State Senate postponed the floor vote for Senate Bill 25-003, the near all-encompassing semi-automatic ban. The vote has been rescheduled for next Friday, February 7th.

Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Strikes Down Federal Laws Prohibiting FFLs From Selling Handguns to 18-to-20-Year-Olds

Friday, January 31, 2025

Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Strikes Down Federal Laws Prohibiting FFLs From Selling Handguns to 18-to-20-Year-Olds

Yesterday, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that 18 U.S.C. §§ 922(b)(1) and (c)(1)—which together forbid Federal Firearms Licensees from selling handguns to 18-to-20-year-olds—violate the Second Amendment.

Expanded Gun Rights in the U.S. Virgin Islands?

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Monday, February 3, 2025

Expanded Gun Rights in the U.S. Virgin Islands?

The reelection of Donald Trump as President of the United States hasn’t just signaled a return to sanity in the White House when it comes to the Second Amendment.  His outspoken support for our right to ...

Maine: Democrats Deal Major Blow to Anti-Gun Referendum

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

Maine: Democrats Deal Major Blow to Anti-Gun Referendum

Less than a week after holding a press conference praising themselves for running a paid signature effort that gathered a qualifying number of signatures to put an extreme Red Flag referendum on the 2025 ballot, ...

Washington: Financial Discrimination and Insurance Mandate Introduced

Monday, January 27, 2025

Washington: Financial Discrimination and Insurance Mandate Introduced

Washington anti-gun legislators continue their attack on law-abiding gun owners by introducing legislation to move the goal posts on lawful gun ownership. Last Friday, House Bill 1504 was introduced, requiring gun owners prove they are "financially ...

New Mexico: Anti-Gun Extremists Introduce Sweeping Gun Ban

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

New Mexico: Anti-Gun Extremists Introduce Sweeping Gun Ban

As they have tried in the past, anti-gun radicals in the New Mexico Senate have introduced Senate Bill 279, the "GOSAFE Act," a near all-encompassing ban on semi-automatic and NFA firearms.

Hawaii: Gun Ban Bills Scheduled for Public Hearings this Thursday!

Monday, February 3, 2025

Hawaii: Gun Ban Bills Scheduled for Public Hearings this Thursday!

On Thursday, February 6th, the House Committee on Judiciary and Public Affairs will hold a public hearing on several bills that will further restrict your Second Amendment rights. 

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Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.