The Washington Post is so eager to condemn guns that it took hook, line and sinker claims from ISIS that terrorists can easily buy a weapon, the leading industry association is charging.
The “Washington Post seems to believe ISIS propaganda on buying guns in U.S.,” blogged Larry Keane, senior vice president and general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
He was taking on the Post and Newsweek which picked up a claim in the ISIS magazine Rumiyah that people can waltz into a gun show and buy a weapon without facing a background check.
Washington Post Seems To Believe ISIS Propaganda On Buying Guns In U.S. https://t.co/POXGRyfNzR via @dailycaller
— Larry Keane (@lkeane) May 8, 2017
From the Post:
In the most recent issue of Rumiyah, its glossy multilingual propaganda magazine, the Islamic State encouraged recruits in the United States to take advantage of laws that allow people to buy firearms without having to present identification or submit to background checks.
Recruits should seek out gun shows and online sales in particular, said the write-up in the magazine, which was released Thursday.
“The acquisition of firearms can be very simple depending on one’s geographical location,” the piece read. “In most U.S. states, anything from a single-shot shotgun all the way up to a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle can be purchased at showrooms or through online sales — by way of private dealers — with no background checks, and without requiring either an ID or a gun license.”
No, wrote Keane:
Every time a firearm is purchased from a federally licensed firearm retailer, a background check is required by federal law. Most of the vendors selling firearms at gun shows, about 75 percent, are FFLs, who are required to run background checks at gun shows just as if the transaction were taking place in their store. In practice, federal law is just the floor of restrictions on gun shows. Many gun show promoters require that all vendors leasing space at a show, including private parties, must agree to run background checks, regardless of whether they hold federal licenses or not. The vast majority of guns sold at gun shows go through federal background checks.
This is why so few criminals obtain firearms at gun shows. According to the Justice Department, less than one percent (0.7) of state and federal prison inmates that possessed a firearm during their current offense acquired their guns from gun shows. By contrast, nearly 40 percent reported acquiring their guns illegally, such as by theft.
ISIS goes so far as to suggest ambushing and robbing an FFL if it’s not possible to obtain a firearm legally. If it were as easy to get a firearm illegally as the article suggests, why would they need to steal guns?
He added, “One would think that the Washington Post would be more concerned about the sources it uses for its reporting. We wonder if ISIS has written about how to fool the mainstream media.”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
