Marco Rubio Fact Checks the Fact Checkers on Gun Control

As we here have covered extensively in the days since the Parkland, Florida school shooting, liberals and their sympathetic media allies are engaged in a substantial effort to score political points against Republicans and the NRA with the blood of dead students and teachers.

News reports keep coming out with infuriating details of an ever-growing list of warnings about the shooter — police were called to his house 39 times since 2010, the FBI failed to follow their own protocols after receiving a credible tip about the shooter, and multiple classmates tried to warn authorities about him — but the left has shown a single-minded focus on demanding more gun control laws.

As the Republican Senator from Florida, Marco Rubio has been the target of a lot of these attacks, accusing him of “doing nothing” to prevent mass shootings like happened this past week at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

Today, he pushed back on these critics in a series of tweets, noting that they ignored the reality of gun laws as well as efforts he had taken to address this exact problem.

As Rubio noted, a 2015 Washington Post article by Glenn Kessler conducted a detailed analysis of mass shootings and the gun laws in effect in those particular jurisdictions. To his admitted surprise, he concluded that new gun laws would have been unable to prevent these shootings.

“Notably, three of the mass shootings took place in California,” wrote Kessler, “which already has strong gun laws including a ban on certain weapons and high-capacity magazines.”

In WaPo‘s “Pinocchio Test,” Rubio’s comment stating the reality of these gun laws was given their rare “Geppetto Checkmark,” named after the noble woodcarver who created the truth-challenged puppet and indicating a claim that is “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”

Rubio also took issue with the apparent selective memory of many of his critics.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “disingenuous” as “lacking in candor” and “giving a false appearance of simple frankness,” and the term is especially apt here. The liberal activists screaming that Rubio has “Done Nothing!” ignores bills he has sponsored and programs he has supported which would have directed increased funding to mental health issues, improved background check reporting systems, and increased penalties for gun trafficking. 

As I wrote earlier today, there is a strong and passionate narrative being pushed on the left right now to demonize the right on the issue of mass shootings. If they are willing to smear JROTC programs, lying about a Republican Senator is no big deal. Kudos to Rubio for pushing back and setting the record straight.

Follow Sarah Rumpf on Twitter: @rumpfshaker.

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