President Obama’s executive actions on guns may have infuriated conservatives, but they have also earned him the support of dozens of adoring Hollywood stars. Quite possibly the only people in America who know less about firearms than Obama, these stars drafted an open letter to the president dripping with the kind of naive enthusiasm typically associated with (very) young children. But when it comes to the liberal hippies who populate Los Angeles, it’s not clear there’s much difference.
“Thank you,” begins the letter. “Thank you for having the courage and leadership to take Executive Action on preventing more unnecessary gun violence in this country. We are deeply thankful for the actions you took this week. Countless lives will be saved as a result.”
The word “countless” here is perfect. If Obama’s executive actions save no lives at all, does that still qualify as “countless”? Because that’s the only way this hyperbolic prediction stands a chance of coming true.
The letter continues: “Like you, and like most Americans, we have had ENOUGH. We have had enough of seeing unthinkable tragedies happen and nothing being done.” They mention a few of these tragedies, including the San Bernardino terrorist attack, the Charleston church shooting, and the massacre at Sandy Hook. “In each case,” they write, “the guns used were far too easily available to people intent on doing harm.”
Well, maybe. But that doesn’t mean that any of Obama’s executive actions would have made the slightest difference. These clowns have spent so much time immersed in fantasy that they can no longer tell the difference between fact and fiction.
“Roughly 33,000 people die from gun violence every year in this country. Every day, we lose 89 more. Since Sandy Hook, 160 schools have experienced shootings. The homicide rate in the United States is 20 times higher than 22 countries like us in wealth and population – combined.”
You know, maybe that crack about fact and fiction isn’t fair. Because this list of spurious statistics reminds us that anti-gun hysteria is not limited to actors, directors, and screenwriters. Millions of Americans, many of them much smarter than this letter’s signatories, labor under the same delusions. This is partly because the left uses statistics like these to blanket the country in fear. You could be shot checking your mail! Your kid could be shot on the playground! We have to do something!
Let’s focus briefly on that first number: 33,000. 60% of that figure can be discarded right off the bat because they are suicides. So what are we left with? Approximately 13,000 gun deaths, the vast majority of which are concentrated in homicidal hotspots where gangs are engaged in open warfare. Unless you have the bad fortune of living in one of these neighborhoods, your chances of being shot are extremely low. And there isn’t a background check in the universe that’s going to prevent these kids from arming themselves.
The rest of the letter is filled with hilarious quotes. Here’s a nice selection:
“No one is challenging the right of law abiding citizens to responsibly own a firearm.”
“Thank you for protecting our rights.”
“We love this country. And one key reason we love it is that it was built on the principle that its people could change it.”
The letter is signed by Hollywood luminaries such as Will Ferrell, Judd Apatow, Jessica Alba, Julianne Moore, Bradley Cooper, and more. Some of these people are quite talented. As this letter plainly demonstrates, though, there’s a world of difference between talent and wisdom. But hey, they’re entitled to their opinions. It’s a free country.
No thanks to them.
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