Mike Malinics of Ewing
We’ve been brainwashed. There are a lot of people in New Jersey with open minds and open eyes, but the majority of us have been mentally conditioned to be afraid of guns. The media in general have done an excellent job of demonizing firearms and the law-abiding citizens who own them.
A two-year study by the Media Research Center concluded that television reporters are overwhelmingly opposed to Second Amendment rights. Broadcasts from major networks from July 1, 1995 to June 30, 1997, covering 244 gun policy stories, the ratio of anti-gun to pro-gun bias was 16 to 1. That means, for every one story of someone using their firearm in self-defense or to save the live of another, they aired 16 stories of criminals using their guns to hurt the innocent. That ratio still remains the same today. It seems one sided and unfair, does it not?
Despite what media coverage might seem to indicate, there are more deaths related to high school football than shootings. In a recent three-year period, twice as many football players died from hits to the head, heat stroke, and other bizarre injuries as compared with students who were murdered by firearms during that same time period.
Why do the majority of our lawmakers think that making it more difficult to own and carry a concealed firearm is going to help quell the rate of violent crime in New Jersey? It’s been proven time and time again that criminals in New Jersey do not care about gun restrictions or gun bans. The vast majority of the illegal guns used in crimes come from a few corrupt gun dealers outside the borders of the Garden State.
It seems most of our legislators have this unfounded fear that if A1282 is enacted, everyone will rush to get their concealed carry permit and there will be millions of guns on our streets which will result in a bloodbath the likes we have never seen. History shows since concealed carry legislation was passed in Florida in 1987 only an estimated three percent of the Floridian population has chosen to obtain a concealed carry permit.
Now, let’s return to New Jersey. With a population of 8.7 million, if two percent of citizens are granted a concealed carry permit, that would be approximately 174,000 people. That also means there will only be two people per square mile who would have a permit to legally carry their weapon. There are 10 times more criminals and street gang members in our cities that are illegally carrying concealed right at this very moment. So what exactly are we afraid of?
The majority of us who live in and around urbanized areas in New Jersey believe guns are the problem. We seem to believe this because the mainstream media has trained us to think that way. The truth is there is an estimated 50.6 million households having at least one gun in the United States, totaling approximately 228 million firearms. The total number of firearms that are used by criminals to commit their violent acts is approximately 450,000 nationwide or .9 percent of all guns that are involved in crimes.
Ninety-seven percent of people in Florida have not chosen to obtain their concealed carry permits, but they are getting a huge benefit from the three percent who do. Since Florida passed concealed carry legislation, crime has dropped to four percent below the national average from 36 percent above the national average before 1987. Most of us in New Jersey will choose not apply for one because we have been convinced by our government and the media that guns are evil. But those upstanding, law-abiding citizens who feel differently should not be denied their constitutional right to defend themselves, if they feel the need to do so.
Mike Malinics
Ewing
