Michael Bloomberg-funded Everytown for Gun Safety is running ads against permitless carry legislation in Missouri, arguing that removing concealed permit requirements will lead to more criminals carrying guns.
In other words, criminals will be more apt to carry if they no longer have to go through a permitting process in order to carry a gun with which to car jack law-abiding citizens or rob liquor stores and gas stations.
On April 27 Breitbart News reported that the Missouri House passed the permitless carry bill by a vote of 112-37.
According to Fox 2 St. Louis, the Everytown ad claims the legislation “make it easier for violent criminals to carry guns.” And the ad is full of hyperbolic language which tends to frighten citizens into believing the claims. For example, in one place the ad says the legislation “would dismantle Missouri law and let people carry hidden, loaded, guns in public, without a permit or any gun safety training.”
St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay (D) used language similar to that used by Everytown, saying, “Making it easier to get a gun, making it easier to have a gun, to hold a gun not only makes our neighborhoods more dangerous but it also ties the hands of our cops when they’re out there trying to enforce our laws and make our neighborhoods safer.”
NRA-ILA Media Liasion Lars Dalseide explained why Everytown and Mayor Slay are both wrong:
Claims that legislation on the floor will allow dangerous criminals to carry guns without a permit is an outright lie. All they do is allow people who are legally allowed to own a gun – people who have already passed a background check – to carry a gun without a permit. In other words they can carry it on their hip, in their purse, or in a shoulder holster so their ability to defend themselves is not limited by the clothing they wear.
It should be noted that Everytown used the same tactics in failed attempts to derail permitless carry in West Virginia and Idaho earlier this year.
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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