GOP Distortion on Guns

Ron Fournier shows how the NRA and its Republican allies in Congress distort the facts  in the gun debate in The National Journal.

To the long-term detriment of a just cause--protecting the Second Amendment--the NRA and their puppets in Congress are botching their fight against Obama. They are factually wrong more often, far more likely to demagogue, and further from mainstream America on policy than the White House. There is no equivalency. 

First, polls show Americans favor efforts to keep guns from criminals and the mentally unstable. Expanding background checks and increasing penalties for trafficking are supported by nine of ten Americans. Narrower majorities back curbs on assault weapons and ammunition. Should lawmakers bow reflexively to polls? Not necessarily but a party that bucks public opinion risks irrelevancy, especially when its primary strategic weapon is distortion. The level of dishonesty on the right is mind-boggling. PolitiFact.com has actually counted. Of the 58 gun claims the group determined to be mostly false or completely bogus, 45 came from the pro-gun side.