Internet Shames Missouri ‘Where Anyone Can Get a Gun Today’

I want to be clear that I completely disagree with what I perceive as an attempt to shame Missouri on the internet today. The article paints a picture about Missouri and a few other states where they say "anyone can get a gun today".

Get our free mobile app

First of all, I recognize that gun laws and background checks are a complicated issue. I have numerous friends and family who are responsible firearms owners that have never been involved in any kind of accident or issue. I also understand there are valid points made by the crowd that wants better background checks. However, I think there are some attempts to connect statistics to a narrative that takes a side in an issue and I believe that might be the case for what I'm about to share.

Let me also be clear that what happened last week in Maine is a terrible tragedy. But, do you think this evil person could have been stopped from getting a weapon by regulations and laws? Not a chance, in my opinion.

24/7 Wall St just shared an interesting article about "these are the states where anyone can get a gun today".  It's when you look at the source of their metrics that I start to have questions.

I don't want to misrepresent the writer of the article so these are the exact metrics they shared regarding Missouri and guns:

> Licensing, safety training, or waiting period requirements: None
> Universal background check laws: No
> Min. age for firearm purchases by state law: 18 for handguns and long guns
> Min. age for firearm possession by state law: None
> Gun deaths in 2021: 23.2 per 100,000 people – 9th highest of 50 states (1,414 total)

Do you agree that all of those metric correlate with each other in regards to a state's gun safety and laws? On the surface, those seem to be fair categories to include. But, I think it would be a good idea to look at the source of the data which is the Giffords Law Center which is dedicated to (in their words) "prevent gun violence". Their mission statement on their "about" page says this:

Giffords is fighting to end the gun lobby’s stranglehold on our political system.

That's all fine and good, but just know that the data being shared by articles like the one from 24/7 Wall St comes from data shared by a group that does not appear to be fond of the 2nd amendment. Whenever I hear someone mention "gun lobby", I know I'm hearing from a political source. I'm not saying they're absolutely wrong with the points they're trying to make. I'm just saying you really need to know the motives of groups who are sharing data before you draw your own conclusions on an explosive and controversial topic like this.