BELLEVUE, WA – Newly-released data from the Council on Criminal Justice has unintentionally revealed the deceptive nature of rhetoric from the gun prohibition lobby, and it’s time for the media to start asking the tough questions, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said in response.
“The new report, which is all over the media, says homicides declined more than 20 percent last year from the number in 2024,” noted CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “Yet a look at data from the FBI and National Shooting Sports Foundation suggests the number of guns in private possession is at an all-time high.
“Perhaps it is time for the establishment media to start questioning the doom-and-gloom predictions that more guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens would lead to a dramatic increase in murders,” he observed. “The Council report suggests we might have seen the largest single-year percentage drop in homicide rates ever on record, yet last year gun sales continued, and anecdotal information indicates more people bought guns for the first time.
“Isn’t it time for the media, which has for too long accepted rhetoric from the gun ban crowd as gospel, to start questioning what they are hearing from people who are determined to erase the Second Amendment,” Gottlieb challenged. “When are reporters going to start questioning politicians who continually push proposals to erode the rights of their law-abiding constituents? When was the last time the media, especially the Sunday morning talking heads, put anti-gun lawmakers or gun ban proponents on the spot, asking how their gun control agenda squares with the federal and state constitutions, which protect the right of individual citizens to keep and bear arms?
“This new report from the Council on Criminal Justice literally bares the dishonesty perpetuated by the gun ban lobby about gun ownership and violent crime,” Gottlieb said. “For decades, gun rights groups have argued for tougher sentencing for genuine criminals, for stronger self-defense protections, and for the right of honest citizens to keep, and especially bear, arms for personal protection. In return, anti-gunners have consistently treated America’s gun owners like criminals, and they have worked to turn a right into a government-regulated privilege. We think it’s time for the media to ask them why.”