Gun purchases in the U.S. have skyrocketed in the first half of 2020. According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), an industry trade group, millions of Americans have chosen to buy their first gun this year.
Gun sales have particularly grown during the past three months. Sales of firearms increased by a record 80% in May compared to the same month last year. In April sales increased 71% over April 2019’s mark and for March the increase over last year’s sales was 85%.
While most new gun owners have made the decision to purchase a firearm because of the widespread civil unrest happening in the country and the efforts by some elected officials to bar police departments from protecting us from that unrest, the mainstream media is gaslighting the American people into believing the surge in gun sales are what’s causing the unrest.
“Spike in violent crime follows rise in gun-buying amid social upheaval,” blares a recent Washington Post headline.
“Americans purchased millions more guns than usual this spring, spurred in large part by racial animosity stoked by widespread protests over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, as well as anxiety over the effects of the covid-19 pandemic,” writes The Post.
“That gun-buying binge is associated with a significant increase in gun violence across the United States.”
The article cites two new reports, one from Brookings and the other from the University of California, which say the rise in firearm purchases has likely caused more “gun violence.”
Note the clever play on words. “Spike in violent crime follows rise in gun buying.” “Gun buying binge is associated with significant increase in gun violence.”
Phrasing that suggests causality but nowhere in the article does it cite proof of causality or even allege it outright.
Indeed towards the bottom of the author admits:
“The authors [of the Brookings and UC reports] caution that a study of this nature cannot prove causality, particularly at a time of massive social upheaval in a country dealing with an unprecedented public health crisis as well as a nationwide protest movement.”
Photo by Thayne Tuason