Media bias, Arkansas style

Oatka

New member
How many can you count?

"a small audience"
"came from outside the Fayetteville community"
"self-proclaimed supporters of the Second Amendment"

ad nauseum
http://www.recordtimes.com/times/news/20news/20news.html

Stronger gun control laws not needed, debate audience says

By MAYLON T. RICE, Staff Writer

By a 2-1 margin, a small audience at the University of Arkansas Thursday night determined additional gun control laws are not needed.

The vote was taken following an hour-long debate sponsored by University Programs and the Arkansas Union Society. The debate drew some 50 people to the Union ballroom.

The debate’s outside speakers, discussing the merits of the national political issue, came from outside the Fayetteville community. The audience was evenly divided between UA students and self-proclaimed supporters of the Second Amendment and the National Rifle Association within Fayetteville and Northwest Arkansas.

Linda Spence, a registered nurse from Kansas City, Mo., and a children’s trauma specialist, squared off against Jeff Cantwell of Little Rock, a life member of the National Rifle Association and active member of the Arkansas Rifle and Pistol Association.

Spence, last year helped defeat a concealed weapons statute in the state of Missouri, immediately took the affirmative side, calling for more, stronger, gun control laws with increased emphasis on safety and responsibility of gun owners.

“This is a universal debate, upon which everyone has an opinion,” Spence began. “But safety and responsibility of the gun owner are paramount as we need stronger gun laws in this country.”

“American children have paid the price for the lack of gun safety laws, as tragic accidents in the home involving guns will soon overtake automobile accidents as the No. 1 killer of young children,” she said.

Arguing the defensive position, Cantwell said mandated trigger locks were not the answer. Instead, he said, parents should better train their children on the dangers of guns.

“Trigger locks are not foolproof,” Cantwell said. “Any mechanical device can fail and by the time you get a trigger lock off you can be dead.”

Cantwell asked why Spence would single out gun owners for irresponsible actions in their homes, when many homeowners each year leave their medications out, unattended — causing thousands of children to be accidentally poisoned.

She refuted Cantwell’s assertion about accidental poisoning by pointing out the mandate and regulated childproof caps on all prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

Spence countered that statistics show that those killed in American homes were more likely to be shot by someone they knew, than by a stranger.

Spence said guns are the only devices allowed in homes which are not under Consumer Safety Protection regulations.

“If you have a crib, a toy or something in your home which proves to be dangerous to children, it can be recalled and someone who made that item can be responsible for the harm it causes — everything that is, except a gun,” she said. “Gun owners need to be responsible for the harm they cause — just like automobile owners involved in an accident — except have you ever heard of someone having insurance on the harm a gun caused in the home.”

Cantwell said that guns in the home do not always mean bloodshed. He said out of 270 million Americans, less than 110 children died from gun accidents in the home.

“In Switzerland, if the number of guns in the hands of citizens is any indication — that nation should be awash in blood,” Cantwell said. “With over 600,000 guns in the hands of citizens it has one of the lowest crime rates in the world.”

Spence said while Arkansas has few gun control laws of its own, the state Legislature failed to provide responsibility in gun safety issues for the state’s children and citizens from model laws enacted by other states.

She said the presence of a gun often causes a “weapons effect” on small children — triggering aggressive and often irresponsible behavior. Cantwell refuted such a charge, saying that the “weapons effect” can have an exactly opposite viewpoint too.

“Two and a half million times a year, the very presence of a gun stops crime in this country,” Cantwell said. “More than 50 percent of all personal crimes take place without a weapon, yet, if a confrontation takes place and the person being confronted pulls a gun — only 17 percent of those personal crimes continue.”

I pointed out these "descrepancies" to the editor
smile.gif

editor@nwarktimes.com




------------------
The New World Order has a Third Reich odor.
 
Contrast this article, covering the same event. (I sent it to the other editor as an example for Mr. Rice to follow.)
http://www.nwamorningnews.com/2000/april/21/news/0421debate.shtml

Parties in UA-sponsored debate argue effectiveness of gun laws
Ethan C. Nobles, The Morning News

The national debate over guns was brought home in a formal debate Thursday night at the University of Arkansas.

The debate, over whether there should be more gun laws, was held at the ballroom in the Arkansas Union and presented by the Arkansas Union Society and the Issues and Ideas Committee of University Programs.

Speaking in favor of more gun laws was Linda Spence, a social worker with a children’s advocate group in Kansas City. Debating against more gun laws was Jeff Cantwell, a member of the National Rifle Association and Arkansas Rifle and Pistol Association.

“How are gun laws weakest and how can we strengthen them?” Spence asked, adding that current gun laws have too many loopholes in them that allow criminals to purchase guns. “Law enforcement is only as effective as the law is strong.”

She also accused the NRA of “lobbying” to make sure that Congress passes “weaker” gun laws that don’t ensure that weapons are kept out of the hands of criminals. She also pointed to recent incidents of school violence as evidence that gun laws should punish parents of children who kill with guns.

Cantwell said reasonable gun owners do recognize their responsibility to keep guns from children.

“The proper way to bring children up if you have a gun in the home is to teach them, to train them, ‘No, you don’t touch that,’” he said, adding that those who don’t feel safe with a gun in the home should not buy them. “There’s some good reasons to have a gun. If you’re not comfortable with one, don’t buy one.”

Cantwell said many in favor of more gun laws claim that people should rely on the police for protection rather than keeping a gun around the home to ensure safety.

“Well, you can’t depend on the cops because the cops aren’t going to always be there,” he said. “You have to rely on yourself. ... Everyone admits that accidents can happen with guns, but guns also prevent unfortunate things from happening.”

He said that, in an average year, guns prevent 2.5 million crimes. He added that 110 children were killed last year by guns, but people focus on regulating guns rather than other things.

A UA student, Adam Roark, agreed that more harmful devices than guns are used frequently in the United States.

“There’s 45,000 people killed every year by drunk drivers, but I don’t see anyone outlawing cars,” Roark said, adding that guns played a crucial part in America during the Revolutionary War. “This is America. We’d still be paying high taxes on tea if it weren’t for guns in the 1700s.”

Spence suggested that requiring trigger locks to be sold with guns would be a step in the right direction toward less gun violence as a gun, properly equipped, can’t be tampered with by a child. Cantwell, however, disagreed that such a law would be desirable.

“The next step is they’re going to start coming around and checking to see if you have (trigger locks) on,” Cantwell said. “They hate guns. They’re wanting to attack them any way they can, but they’re out there blowing things way out of proportion.”

Cantwell added that there are thousands of gun laws on the books already and they’re not being enforced.

“How’s having one more gun law, two more gun laws, going to affect the number of children being killed with guns?” Cantwell asked.

He added that, early in the history of the country, guns were freely available and common, yet violent crime was not close to the level it is now.

“By focusing on guns, we’re ignoring the real problems,” he said.

At the conclusion of the debate, 20 people voted against stricter gun laws, nine voted for stricter laws and eight people didn’t vote.
 
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