What the Media, Politicians Get Wrong on Guns
Douglas Blair /
@DouglasKBlair / June 14, 2022
In the wake of shootings like the one in Uvalde, Texas, there's often a call for radical gun control measures. But would that really help keep people safe? Pictured: People mourn at a makeshift memorial outside Uvalde County Courthouse in Uvalde, Texas, on May 26, 2022. (Photo: CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
In the aftermath of a series of horrible mass shootings (one or more people) across the country, there is a knee-jerk reaction to demonize gun owners and call for sweeping gun control legislation.
But more often than not, those in the media and political classes calling for assault weapon bans and other gun control don’t understand the very things they’re legislating.
“There’s just a complete lack of basic knowledge on the topic of firearms,” says Stephen Gutowski. “How they work,
how they’re massively over-regulated, what the politics even are around them, why people oppose different policies that are often put forward in the wake of these shootings.”
Gutowski is a firearms reporter and founder of gun news site thereload.com.
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In the aftermath of a series of horrible mass shootings across the country, there is a knee-jerk reaction to demonize gun owners and call for sweeping gun control legislation.
But more often than not, those in the media and political classes calling for assault weapon bans and other gun control don’t understand the very things they’re legislating.
“There’s just a complete lack of basic knowledge on the topic of firearms,” says Stephen Gutowski. “How they work, how they’re regulated, what the politics even are around them, why people oppose different policies that are often put forward in the wake of these shootings.”
Gutowski is a firearms reporter and founder of gun news site thereload.com.
He joins this bonus episode of The Daily Signal Podcast to discuss gun laws, and proposed gun control legislation.
Listen to the podcast or read the lightly edited transcript below.
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Douglas Blair: My guest today is Steven Gutowski, founder of thereload.com and a firearms reporter. Stephen, welcome to the show.
Steven Gutowski: Hey, thanks for having me.