Economics has a concept called “revealed preference.” The gist is that a person’s observed actions reveal more about their preferences than what a person might profess to favor. In the gun control context, this means that gun rights supporters can dismiss haughty public safety rhetoric spewed by anti-gun politicians. That’s because many anti-gun public officials who promote ever more gun control in the name of public safety demonstrate an inability or unwillingness to adequately address actual criminals who misuse firearms.
Consider the facts of the following Virginia case, as reported in an August 28 article by Arlington, Va., news website ARLnow.com. As a reminder, suspects in any crime are, as a matter of law, innocent until proven guilty (as a matter of common sense, however, people are free to employ their own reasoning in determining the significance of events).
According to the piece, an individual was arrested in Arlington at “around 1 a.m. on New Year’s Day last year following reports of gunfire at Marymount University’s Placemakr building in Ballston. He was accused of initiating a ‘firefight’ in the elevator lobby of the building’s 10th floor after a verbal dispute.” During the incident, the individual was shot in the foot and another person was shot in the hand.
Upon arresting the individual, police determined he had a firearm “equipped with an extended magazine and an auto sear device, ‘converting [it] from semi- to fully automatic,’ according to a criminal complaint.”
A March 4, 2025, ARLnow article broke down the state charges and penalties the individual initially faced following the shooting, explaining that he could face decades in prison if he is convicted of the following six charges that he faces.
- Aggravated malicious wounding (20 years to life)
- Use of a machine gun for an aggressive purpose (2 to 10 years)
- Discharging a firearm within a building (2 to 10 years)
- Use or display of a firearm while committing a felony (3 years)
- Possession of an auto sear (1 to 5 years)
- Carrying a concealed firearm (up to 1 year)
Those found in possession of an illegal machine gun can also face severe federal penalties. A person found in mere possession of a machine gun conversion device faces up to 10 years imprisonment. (18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(2), 26 U.S.C. § 5871). Local prosecutors are free to refer cases to federal authorities for prosecution.
But as the August article explained,
[the individual] ultimately pleaded guilty to only two charges: unlawful wounding and possession of an auto sear. He was granted a deferred adjudication, avoiding prison time.
Seemingly, and unsurprisingly, this leniency not only failed to provoke a course correction, it emboldened further escalation of his predatory behavior. The individual went on to be arrested on July 31 and charged with Second Degree Murder While Armed in connection with the May shooting of a 30-year-old woman in the District of Columbia.
It is unclear from the immediately available public information who, between the courts and prosecutors, bears the most responsibility for the punishment -or lack thereof - this individual received following the 2025 incident.
Yet, according to Fox News, Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington County and the City of Falls Church Parisa Dehghani-Tafti has received over $500,000 in campaign funds from groups bankrolled by billionaire criminal justice “reform” financier George Soros.
And even while getting support from soft-on-crime groups, Dehghani-Tafti has been notably tough on law-abiding gun owners.
On May 14, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger (D) signed a ban on commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms and their magazines. The law had an effective date of July 1, but enforcement was quickly enjoined statewide.
Dehghani-Tafti, however, made clear she is a staunch supporter of this legislation restricting Second Amendment rights. ARLnow reported on July 7,
Despite pending legal challenges at the state and local level, Arlington prosecutors still consider Virginia’s new assault weapons ban the law of the land.
“Yes, we plan to prosecute cases under the assault weapons ban if they are brought to us by the police,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti told ARLnow, taking a position that tracks with the view of Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones.
In a June 2023 interview with Jejune magazine, Dehghani-Tafti was asked “What do you feel are the most important issues right now, why, and how do you plan to tackle them?” The prosecutor responded,
My top three priorities are: a) keeping our community safe and addressing gun violence; b) empowering victims and survivors; and c) building a fair legal system.
(a) Keeping our community safe and addressing gun violence: My office aggressively prosecutes serious crimes, and our trial conviction rates for violent felonies are nearly double those of the prior administration. I have used my lobbying power as a prosecutor to push for gun safety laws. In a second term, I will continue to focus on serious crimes, support our legislators in advocating for an assault weapons ban, and work with stakeholders to implement a gun buyback program.
Put the lobbying for gun control aside. It’s hard to see how the rest of this answer comports with the outcome of the 2025 shooting detailed above.
That is revealed preference. Ignore the flowery public safety nonsense spewed by gun control advocates and look at their woeful record of utilizing the ample laws on the books to incapacitate the criminals who misuse firearms.
Upon serious reflection, the obvious conclusion to draw is that gun control is not about public safety, rather it is aimed at curtailing the rights of decent law-abiding citizens.
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