Forbes published an article Monday submitted by contributor Niall McCarthy, who states that Washington, D.C. takes the number two spot as “America’s most gun-friendly state.” According to McCarthy:
When it comes to gun ownership in the United States, nowhere comes close to the state of Wyoming. With 196 registered firearms for every 1,000 residents, it ranks as America’s most gun-friendly state by a considerable distance. Even though Wyoming is awash with guns, one for every five residents, its violent crime rate is relatively low compared to other states. Nevertheless, a high rate of gun suicide is still cause for serious concern.
It really gets interesting when McCarthy describes the second most “gun-friendly state”:
Washington, D.C. comes second on the list of per capita gun ownership with 66 firearms per 1,000 residents. Arkansas rounds off the top three with 42. At the opposite end of the scale, Delaware , Rhode Island and New York have the least registered guns, with 4.2, 3.8 and 3.3 firearms per 1,000 residents respectively. Around 90 people are killed by guns every day in the United States, adding up to a grim total of 32,000 every year.
McCarthy provided this graph to illustrate his point:
Apart from the fact that Washington, D.C. isn’t a state, the author’s reasoning is totally flawed.
First of all, the raw data is wholly inaccurate. The majority of states don’t require its residents to register guns, so no one can have any conception of how many guns are owned in a registry-free state.
Secondly, even if all states required that firearms be registered, McCarthy is confusing “gun ownership” with “gun-friendly.” There is nothing about Washington, D.C. that’s “gun-friendly.”
Its city council has been fighting federal courts tooth-and-nail for years to make gun ownership illegal within its jurisdiction.
After its latest bout when a federal judge ruled that the city’s total ban on carrying firearms outside the home was unconstitutional, it put together a permit process that is Byzantine to the point of a de facto ban on carry permits, as Liberty Unyielding reported in November.
When Fox 2 KTVU investigative reporter Emily Miller noted the impossible process, she asked a police official about her Constitutional rights.
“The Second Amendment right to bear arms just doesn’t fully apply here?” she asked.
“I believe when the Second Amendment was written, that was more or less for when the British were coming.”
So much for D.C. being a “gun-friendly state.”
Forbes must have seen the error of its ways — it has since removed the article. It showed up when I Googled it:
But I got a “404 error” message when I clicked the link.
Also, there was no mention of the article on the author’s page at Forbes.
