George Kennedy, Missouri School of Journalism professor emeritus, proposes the National Rifle Association (NRA) is more dangerous than Islamic State.
“The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is a terrorist organization founded in 1999, headquartered in Syria and feared around the world,” Kennedy said in the Missourian. “The NRA was founded in 1891, headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia, and is feared by politicians across America.”
The NRA was actually founded in 1871.
Kennedy compared the NRA to the Islamic State, saying the Islamic State is so feared because its willingness to kill in pursuit of its goal of creating a fundamentalist caliphate. The NRA is so feared because of its willingness to spend heavily and campaign aggressively in pursuit of its goal of removing all restrictions on the possession and use of firearms just about anywhere by just about anyone.
In essence, Kennedy was clearly unprepared for such statements as he gave the wrong founding date for the NRA and then went on to make unsubstantiated claims that the NRA wants to allow “possession and use of firearms just about anywhere by just about anyone.”
The truth is that the NRA defends the enforcement of the law and the prosecution of firearm related crimes, passionately. They stand behind defending law abiding citizens’ right to keep and bear arms. Kennedy was way off base with his statements. Kennedy then states that claims only nine Americans have been killed by ISIS jihadists since the terror attacks on NYC in 2001.
Did Kennedy forget that an attacker claiming allegiance to ISIS attacked Orlando Pulse and killed 49 people on June 12, 2016? The gunman pledged his allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in a 911 call. Kennedy’s claim of only nine deaths since 9/11 is to justify his point that “11,737 Americans” are murdered each year with guns.
Finally, he is on to something, the average number of firearm-related homicides is around 10,500 to 11,500 each year. Ironically, the majority of these gun related deaths happen in two “gun controlled” cities, Chicago and Baltimore. These are cities where prosecution of gun crimes has not been a priority and has been quite negligent.
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