Sebastian over Snowflakes in Hell comments about an “article” in MPR News by Brandt Williams titled: “Following the firearms: A reporter’s notebook.” Let me rephrase that, it is not an article but a mercenary piece of propaganda bought and paid by the Joyce Foundation.

I won’t go over the same points Sebatian cleverly slices and dices, but some stuff did catch my attention.

First presenter Tom Diaz had some interesting insight into the gun industry. Diaz is senior policy analyst at the Violence Policy Center. He says the industry is “sick,” meaning its sales have been flat for decades.

Say what? Has Mr. Diaz checked the NICS records lately? Since 1999 NICS checks on firearms sales have gone from 9 million to 14 million. That is a 55% increase! Maybe this lack of basic research and math explains why gun control groups must seek funding by begging from the Joyce Foundation or selling their email lists to spammers.

Ben Van Houten, Legal Community Against Violence, summarized the gun laws for Minnesota, Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan. Apparently, strong gun laws don’t necessarily mean fewer gun crimes.

I wonder how many decades have we been saying that. But we are not to be trusted…noooo. I am guessing Mr Van Houten was tarred and Feathered after the presentation.

Hayes also said just because you can trace a gun back to its original owner doesn’t mean you’ll find out how it came to be used in a crime. The original owner could have given it to a relative, sold it to a pawn shop, etc.

If you keep this up, you will not get paid by the Joyce Foundation. Again, we could have told you that long ago. Or better yet, you could have done a Google search and find the same info.

I talked to Bob Schmidt and Bernie Zapor from the St. Paul ATF yesterday. They told me that even if the MPD wants to give us gun trace data, they are forbidden from doing so. They told me that instead, we’ll have to get our trace data from court records, which is not what I understood from Ben Hayes, the ATF agent who gave a presentation at the Chicago seminar.

ATF agent not knowing Federal firearms laws? How come we are not surprised over this side.

The bad news is, he still doesn’t have his hands on a homicide case we can use as the centerpiece for this project. I told him time is running short. However, Cruz will get me in front of one of the prosecutors who specialize in gun cases next week, and I’ll press my case with them.

Seriously, you sound a tad ghoulish right there. Desperately seeking Homicides? It sounds like Serial Killer by proxy.

If you feel like it, read the whole article. Mr. Williams does not appear to be in search of the truth at all. His notes reveal lack of flexibility or a smidgen of open mindedness. He wants a homicide with a gun and track it. The info he wrote down is indication of self-imposed ignorance and complete bias just as it should be when you are taking money from the Joyce Foundation.