Violent crime rate has decreased by 48.6 percent in tandem with ownership rise

Newly released figures from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives shows that there are now a whopping 422.9 million guns in the hands of Americans. The number equates to 1.2 guns for every person in the country.

The figures also show that in 2018, 8.1 billion rounds of ammunition were produced by the gun industry.

The figures also reveal that the most popular firearm in the country is the much maligned sporting rifle, often mis-identified as an “assault rifle”, the AR-15 being one of the more popular models.

The findings highlight that there are now 17.7 million of them in private hands, a record high, and more than half (54%) of all rifles produced in 2017 were modern sporting rifles.

The ATF figures also reveal that firearms-ammunition manufacturing accounted for nearly 12,000 jobs in the US, creating over $4.1 billion in goods shipped in 2017.

“These figures show the industry that America has a strong desire to continue to purchase firearms for lawful purposes,” said Joe Bartozzi, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

“The modern sporting rifle continues to be the most popular centerfire rifle sold in America today and is clearly a commonly owned firearm with more than 17 million in legal private ownership today.” Bartozzi continued.

“The continued popularity of handguns demonstrates a strong interest by Americans to protect themselves and their homes and to participate in the recreational shooting sports,” Bartozzi added.

Bartozzi also noted that “as lawful firearms ownership in America continues to grow, criminal and unintentional misuse of firearms is falling.”

“During the 25-year period covered in this report (1993–2017) the violent crime rate has decreased by 48.6 percent and unintentional firearm-related fatalities have declined by 68 percent.” he added.

One reason why the popularity of the sporting rifle continues to grow may be because it is routinely criticized and targeted in arguments for stricter gun control.

Justin Anderson of Hyatt Guns, one of the biggest firearm retailers in the country noted that “Sales have definitely been brisk, especially of small, concealable handguns. We also saw a spike in sales of tactical rifles like AR-15s and AK-47s, for which I think we can confidently thank Beto O’Rourke.”

During a failed presidential run, Beto said on multiple occasions that he would ban AR-15s, and even go door to door to confiscate the weapons from Americans.

With a near record high of gun sales on Black Friday last week, Americans are sending a clear message in exercising their Second Amendment rights.

“People feel terrorized”

The sight of an armored vehicle in Queens last week belonging to a branch of ICE had leftists all in a spin, as some suggested, wrongly, it was there as an ‘occupying force’ to arrest illegals.

The armored personnel carrier, (not a tank) surrounded by ICE agents, and even a gunner, was seen on Forest Avenue near Norman Street in the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood.

The Ridgewood Tenants Union, a leftist organization, freaked out without checking the facts first:

ICE is literally rolling through Queens in armored personnel carriers like an occupying force. https://t.co/2mFB5LBSx9

— Aaron Leaf (@aaronleaf) November 7, 2019

They even accused ICE of inspiring terror:

“People feel terrorized,” said Raquel Namuche, an organizer with the Ridgewood Tenants Union. “This happened right across from a youth program for children as young as four-years-old and there seemed to be no safety protocols in place. For people to leave their homes early in the morning and see a tank out on the street is just wild.”

Again, it’s not a tank, it’s a BearCat tactical vehicle acquired last year by the Homeland Security Investigations unit.

It’s to stop federal law enforcement from being shot and killed by dangerous criminals.

Gothamist noted that the vehicle was used in an operation to arrest a man suspected of smuggling and illegally selling weapons:

An ICE spokesperson confirmed that one individual was taken into custody on an unspecified criminal arrest warrant. A spokesperson for Mayor Bill de Blasio said the agents were there as part of a federal investigation into a firearms suspect, who was allegedly found to have been hoarding “about 50 guns, including a machine gun, gun parts and ammunition.”

The snowflake freak out didn’t end there, however:

Councilmember Antonio Reynoso also expressed frustration about the incident, pointing to constant fear in immigrant neighborhoods about the potential for raids and deportations. “I do not understand what necessitated ICE’s use of a tank other than the simple desire to instill fear amongst our community members,” he said in a statement to Gothamist. “At this time, we must ensure that residents are connected to resources like the Immigrant Defense Project so that they are equipped to know their rights against ICE.”

It’s not a fucking tank.

It wasn’t being used to arrest illegal immigrants.

Put down the Twitter and take a walk outside.

“We don’t even want it in the White House anymore”

President Trump has proposed a plan to cancel all government subscriptions to the New York Times and the Washington Post, saying that it will save hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“Not renewing subscriptions across all federal agencies will be a significant cost saving—hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars will be saved,” White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in an email to the Wall Street Journal‘s Andrew Restuccia.

The proposal comes in the wake of the president canceling the White House’s subscriptions to the print versions of the newspapers, calling them ‘fake news’.

“We don’t even want it in the White House anymore,” Trump said of the Times during an interview with Hannity earlier this week.

“We’re going to probably terminate that and the Washington Post. They’re fake.” Trump added.

The WSJournal reported that a White House official has indeed confirmed that print editions of the Times and the Post were not delivered to the White House on Thursday.

The impact on the newspapers is sure to be significant, for example The New York Times receives around two-thirds of its revenue from subscriptions.

Both newspapers have profited massively from opposing Trump’s presidency.

Meanwhile, the Times via Paul Krugman suggested this week that Trump and his supporters will start using “mob” tactics such as “roughing up the witnesses” called to testify in impeachment hearings on Capitol Hill.

Phase one: try to discourage any investigation

Phase two: try to stonewall, telling officials not to testify

Phase three: physically disrupt the hearings

Phase four: ??? I hope Schiff, Pelosi et al are thinking about precautions. Anything is possible https://t.co/XAOypKHvcI

— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) October 23, 2019

Krugman suggested that the Republican interruption of the closed impeachment hearing would be followed up, and that House Democrats should start “thinking about precautions” because “anything is possible.”