[StBernard] New Revelations Show Gun Control Advocates Were Lying to the Public

[Westley Annis]

	New Revelations Show Gun Control Advocates Were Lying to the Public
	
	Gun Owners of America News Release
	
	For Immediate Release 
	
	Contact Erich Pratt
	
	April 2, 2009
	
	703-321-8585
	
	(Springfield, VA) -- New revelations today from Fox News showed that
	several high ranking U.S. officials were lying about the number of
	guns going into Mexico from the United States. For several weeks,
	Americans have been told that 90 percent of the guns used by drug
	cartels in Mexico have come from this country.
	
	“Well, it turns out that the 90 percent factoid was a lie,” said
	GOA Communications Director Erich Pratt. 
	
	“Everyone knows that politicians lie, as we saw with Chris Dodd who
	lied to
	 the American people concerning what he knew about the AIG
	bonuses. Now there are three more politicians who have been caught
	red-handed: Attorney General Eric Holder, Secretary of State Hillary
	Clinton and Senator Dianne Feinstein.”
	
	“They all parroted this 90 percent claim, and they were all
	wrong,” Pratt said. “The fact is, our guns are not a significant
	source of Mexico’s illegal gun stash, and to be sure, America’s
	law-abiding gun owners are definitely not to blame.
	
	“The gun banners have every reason to inflate this figure because
	they want to see the Clinton-Feinstein ban on semi-automatic firearms
	reinstated. They want to take away people’s ability to protect
	themselves.
	
	“They are trying to conceal their hatred for guns by claiming this
	ban would help the Mexican people. But who are they kidding? Do they
	really think that the drug cartels, which pull in billions of
	 dollars
	every year, are going to send their operatives into the United States
	to stand in line at gun shows to buy their arms?
	
	“The idea is laughable. These well-funded ‘armies’ can easily
	get guns through back channels and from Latin American military
	soldiers who are looking for a quick dollar. In fact, much of the
	weaponry they possess is not even legal for most American citizens to
	own. The average citizen can’t own an automatic weapon, a rocket
	launcher, or grenades. And yet, that’s what the drug cartels
	possess.
	
	“So kudos to American journalism for uncovering the recent slate of
	deceptive politicians who are trying to generate momentum for a new
	gun ban,” Pratt said.
	
	FAST FACT: The U.S. government has shipped millions of guns to arm
	military and police departments in Central America over the past 50
	years. Thus, it is not surprising that a small percentage of firearms
	seized
	 by the Mexican government are American-made firearms. According
	to today’s Fox News report, about 17 percent of the firearms seized
	from the drug cartels originated in the United States. Earlier
	reports -- claiming that “90 percent” of the drug cartel guns are
	coming from the U.S. -- were based on tracing data, which is often
	used to deceive the public as to the types of guns used in crime.
	
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	Erich Pratt is the Director of Communications for Gun Owners of
	America, a national gun lobby with over 300,000 members. GOA is
	located at 8001 Forbes Place, Springfield, VA 22151 and at
	www.gunowners.org on the web.
	
	Either Erich Pratt or another GOA spokesman is available for press
	interviews.
	
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