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Guns and Piers Morgan
Townhall.com ^ | December 3, 2013 | Larry Elder

Posted on 01/03/2013 6:01:13 AM PST by Kaslin

CNN's Piers Morgan writes that the pro-gun crowd's anger toward him stems from anti-British bias: "This gun debate is an ongoing war of verbal attrition in America -- and I'm just the latest target, the advantage to the gun lobbyists being that I'm British, a breed of human being who burned down the White House in 1814 and had to be forcefully deported en masse, as no American will ever be allowed to forget."

Scads of "in-sourced" Brits appear on our telly without us Yanks calling for their deportation. Hell, we just let a Brit play Abe Lincoln. Fox's Stuart Varney seems to escape this anti-mother country xenophobia.

Maybe, just maybe, it's the way Morgan -- as well as much of the guns-kill-people-crowd -- holds "debates" on the matter.

Take the treatment of Larry Pratt. Respected in circles that Piers "I-have- fired-guns-only-once-in-my-life" Morgan chooses not to hang out with, Pratt heads a pro-Second Amendment group called the Gun Owners of America. Pratt, on Morgan's show, attempted to explain that the "gun control" big picture requires understanding something: Hundreds of thousand of Americans, every year, use firearms for self-defense.

Morgan's response? He called Pratt "an incredibly stupid man" and denounced "idiots like you." Then came this: "You don't give a damn," Morgan said, "do you, about the gun murder rate in America? You don't actually care."

Morgan offered no study, expert, number -- nothing whatsoever -- to counter the claim. That anyone with a moderately functioning brain could find an upside in owning, let alone using, a gun simply astonishes Morgan. Defies common sense!

Is it true, as claimed by Florida criminalist Gary Kleck, that 2.5 million Americans each year use a firearm for self-defense? Is it true that, of that number, 400,000 people believe that, were it not for the gun they used, they would have been killed? These are questions and answers the anti-gun crowd ignores, chooses not to think about or considers irrelevant.

"How many Americans are alive," I once asked a pro-gun control police chief, "because they used a firearm in self defense?"

"I don't know the answer to that," he said.

"You know the exact number of people murdered because of guns," I said, "but you don't know how many people are alive because of them?"

"No, I don't."

"What if I told you of a study that said 2.5 million people use guns every year for self-defense -- and that of that number 400,000 believe had they not had the gun, they would have been killed?"

"I don't believe that."

"What's your number?"

"Don't have one -- and it doesn't matter. We have too many guns in this country. "

At least the police chief admitted that however many more people are alive than dead because of guns, he nevertheless wants guns even more restricted.

What's Piers Morgan's excuse? He simply refused to believe the data.

What about the 2.5 million number? Pro-gun-control law professor and criminologist Marvin Wolfgang, of Northwestern University, examined Kleck's data and methodology. Just how pro-gun control is Wolfgang? He wrote: "I am as strong a gun-control advocate as can be found among the criminologists in this country. If I were Mustapha Mond of 'Brave New World,' I would eliminate all guns from the civilian population and maybe even from the police. I hate guns -- ugly, nasty instruments designed to kill people."

But of Kleck's claim that 2.5 million Americans yearly use guns for self-defense? Wolfgang wrote: "What troubles me is the article by Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz. The reason I am troubled is that they have provided an almost clear-cut case of methodologically sound research in support of something I have theoretically opposed for years, namely, the use of a gun in defense against a criminal perpetrator. ... I do not like their conclusions that having a gun can be useful, but I cannot fault their methodology. They have tried earnestly to meet all objections in advance and have done exceedingly well."

The Oscar-winning Michael Moore says America possesses "too many guns" because of racism. For my pro-Second Amendment documentary, "Michael & Me," I "ambushed" Moore. The anti-gun Moore, by the way, was surrounded by security and coming into a venue a back way to avoid the very "ambush interviews" in which he specializes. Three times I asked Moore how often Americans use guns to defend themselves. Three times Moore deflected the question, merely repeating "we have too many guns."

Morgan is right. Per capita, we have nearly 50 times the gun murder rate compared to the gun murder rate of England. But look at all murders, whether by knife or baseball bat. Rather than 50 times the rate, it is less than five -- not 50 -- times higher than the murders committed by any means in England. For my documentary, I interviewed Joyce Lee Malcolm, author of "Guns and Violence." She said the same murder rate discrepancy -- five times the British rate -- existed between New York City and London for two centuries, and during most of that time neither city had any gun control laws.

This must make Malcolm "an incredibly stupid woman." Debate over.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: banglist; britishpolitics; guncontrol; piersmorgan; secondamendment; thedailymail; unitedkingdom
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1 posted on 01/03/2013 6:01:22 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin
Progressive Wallahs affirm their latest fat wad against America.

Department of State issued warnings concerning radical Progressives rampaging and targeting Americans in Progressive countries. Be advised if you are traveling abroad.

2 posted on 01/03/2013 6:09:26 AM PST by WilliamofCarmichael (If modern America's Man on Horseback is out there, Get on the damn horse already!)
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To: Kaslin
My DNA test says I am 89% form British Isle. My ancestors were of the royal families of Europe. Piers Morgan I demand a withdrawal of your haughty racist statements. We have won the right to choose our own way in many wars. If you were an American you would have a Constitution right to free speech. No wonder Europe is in such a mess.

Where did you bloody British hide the bodies of our American soldiers form the battle of Long Island?

3 posted on 01/03/2013 6:16:55 AM PST by mountainlion (Live well for those that did not make it back.)
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To: WilliamofCarmichael
Phew! And Brits call Americans fat!

Additionally, this man has no character in his face. It’s the face of a buffoon.

4 posted on 01/03/2013 6:18:22 AM PST by miss marmelstein ( Richard Lives Yet!)
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To: Kaslin
Photobucket

Assclown got bitch slapped in this exchange.

5 posted on 01/03/2013 6:24:20 AM PST by tx_eggman (Liberalism is only possible in that moment when a man chooses Barabas over Christ.)
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To: Kaslin
What possessed CNN to go to England and get some media hack that wasn't even particularly well liked over there and give him an hour of primetime on American TV every night?!?

An perhaps the greater mystery is why he is still on TV... last nights viewer numbers:

Hannity FOX - 2,321,000
Maddow MSNBC - 1,731,000
Piers Morgan CNN - 543,000

So he has less than 1/4 the viewers of Hannity, and less than 1/3 of the viewers of that other kook liberal Maddow.

6 posted on 01/03/2013 6:25:56 AM PST by apillar
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To: Kaslin
... I'm British, a breed of human being who burned down the White House in 1814 and had to be forcefully deported en masse, as no American will ever be allowed to forget."

Oh, bull crap, you egoistic, self-centered snob. My guess is that 99.9% of Americans aren't smart enough to even know the British were still on US soil in 1814, let alone care about your British background. How could they be smart? First, there's enough to them to keep you on TV and, second, they reelected the most inept president in history, eclipsing even Carter!

7 posted on 01/03/2013 6:26:41 AM PST by econjack (Some people are as dumb as soup.)
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To: Kaslin
Piers Morgan writes that the pro-gun crowd's anger toward him stems from anti-British bias.
Being of Irish descent, my "disdain" for the Brits has nothing to do with guns.
8 posted on 01/03/2013 6:27:55 AM PST by oh8eleven (RVN '67-'68)
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To: tx_eggman

LMAO!!!! Now that is a bitch slap! I usually skip any post starting with Piers. Glad I saw this one. :)


9 posted on 01/03/2013 6:28:15 AM PST by Protect the Bill of Rights
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To: Kaslin

Morgan has invented a British race, so he too can have a race card to use.


10 posted on 01/03/2013 6:31:32 AM PST by Graybeard58 ("Civil rights” leader and MSNB-Hee Haw host Al Sharpton - Larry Elder)
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To: Kaslin

Don’t confuse me with facts, my mind is made up!


11 posted on 01/03/2013 6:33:45 AM PST by Old Retired Army Guy
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To: oh8eleven

“The English instinctively admire any man who has no talent and is modest about it.”

- G.B. Shaw, I believe. Piers M. has no talent and is proud of it, of course.


12 posted on 01/03/2013 6:39:19 AM PST by elcid1970 ("The Second Amendment is more important than Islam.")
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To: Kaslin
How many on going problems in the world can be traced directly back to the British Empire?
Let us count the ways.
13 posted on 01/03/2013 6:40:51 AM PST by Falcon4.0
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To: Kaslin
CNN's Piers Morgan writes that the pro-gun crowd's anger toward him stems from anti-British bias: "This gun debate is an ongoing war of verbal attrition in America -- and I'm just the latest target, the advantage to the gun lobbyists being that I'm British, a breed of human being who burned down the White House in 1814 and had to be forcefully deported en masse, as no American will ever be allowed to forget."

This man has no business calling anyone else 'stupid'.

14 posted on 01/03/2013 6:45:15 AM PST by Riley (The Fourth Estate is the Fifth Column.)
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To: Kaslin

A banger and spotted dick overdose. Just go to the dentist already.


15 posted on 01/03/2013 6:53:47 AM PST by Resolute Conservative
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To: econjack; Kaslin

NO, they did NOT reelect the most inept p-Resident in history!
It was a scandal fake election where voting machines’ software program was in use to change and steal the election from Romney. Pure and simple!! Remember the Tsunami votes in 2009, hmmm!!!


16 posted on 01/03/2013 7:00:39 AM PST by danamco (-)
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To: Falcon4.0
How many on going problems in the world can be traced directly back to the British Empire? Let us count the ways.

To be fair, if you count the problems caused by the end of the British Empire, they are far more numerous.

No doubt, many would be on both lists.

17 posted on 01/03/2013 7:02:43 AM PST by marktwain
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To: Falcon4.0; marktwain

True, but your comments remind me of this. ;-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExWfh6sGyso


18 posted on 01/03/2013 7:29:45 AM PST by Pining_4_TX (All those who were appointed to eternal life believed. Acts 13:48)
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To: marktwain

“To be fair, if you count the problems caused by the end of the British Empire, they are far more numerous.”

Zimbabwe, for instance.


19 posted on 01/03/2013 7:40:49 AM PST by ZirconEncrustedTweezers (Some cultures are destined to remain stupid and we need to quit trying to uplift them.)
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To: Kaslin

Piers Morgan lives in a blinkered, protective bubble that considers the real world a special case. Piers has yet to be mugged by reality. Someday, Piers will suffer the mugging, but his reaction will be denial and not that of a teachable moment. As Ron White says: “You can’t fix stupid.”


20 posted on 01/03/2013 7:46:10 AM PST by MasterGunner01
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