Group calls for tougher background checks on guns like one used in trooper shooting

[beevul]

Group calls for tougher background checks on guns like one used in trooper shooting

HARRISBURG, Pa. —Police say a gunman used a .308-caliber rifle to shoot two state troopers, one fatally, on Friday.

Today, Cease Fire PA called for tougher background checks on weapons just like it in the capitol rotunda. The group, made up of mayors and activists from across the Commonwealth, called for expanded background checks on people buying long guns, such as rifles and shot guns.

Cease Fire says FBI figures show the number of murders committed with long guns has doubled since 1996.

http://www.wgal.com/news/group-calls-for-tougher-background-checks-on-guns-like-one-used-in-trooper-shooting/28091608

Theres been some controversy over the "doubled" claim here and there on the internet, so I decided to check it out for myself, and heres what I found:

Long guns accounted for 622 murders in 2012 (322 rifles, 303 shotguns)

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2012/crime-in-the-u.s.-2012/offenses-known-to-law-enforcement/expanded-homicide/expanded_homicide_data_table_8_murder_victims_by_weapon_2008-2012.xls



http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/1996/96sec2.pdf

And by my count, according to the information on table 20 of the above link, in 1996 long guns accounted for 1218 murders:

545 murders by rifle

673 murders by shotgun


Another gun control org blatantly fibbing (read:Misleading the public) in an attempt to gin up fear in an effort to win support for their agenda.

That's my take.

But I'm open to hearing arguments about how fine the line is between "doubled" and "roughly halved".

[NYC_SKP]

1. Nice find! Hang on, I wonder if any notoriously verbose poster will chime in on this one...

Nothing yet, I know he's here....

But....

[DonP]

2. Yes, we definitely need more background checks on every deer rifle owner in the US

When the demand for another AWB was in full swing a few years back, somebody made a comment about, "if the grabbers get the AWB they want, next they'll be shifting gears and starting to refer to deer rifles as "sniper" rifles".

And here we are.

OTOH, I can't think of a better way to get a bunch of the Fudds pissed off and politically active. Unless they decide to ban the Remington 870 for one reason or another.

[Eleanors38]

3. Why just one specific model, one specific caliber?

If the weapon had been a Hawken percussion in .58, would they have specified that ancient thing? Makes more sense to have a workable, general UBC. Peculiar.

[ileus]

4. What a goofy bunch of turds....preying on the dumb to further their agenda.

[beevul]

5. Yup, and telling the public outright lies in order to further it, as well. N/T