More guns | Tom Camfield

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THE .45 PISTOLS ABOVE were featured in an on-line ad that begins: “The ‘Keep America ‘Great’ (KAG) Trump 1911 features the President’s 2020 campaign model engraved on the left side of the slide, along with his image and the White House. On the right, the slide is engraved with ‘45th,’ his name, and the Presidential Seal,” etc. The ad continues with detailed lengthy description of the exquisite weapons and how to order same, complete with 7-shot magazine.

The Internet in retrospect, however, in large part these days, seems to be attempting to paint Trump as one of history’s greatest anti-gun statesmen. Just goes to show that a massive part of today’s actual ”fake news” is not found in the Free Press exemplified down through history by the mainstream print media—The New York Times, The Washington Post . . . The Seattle Times and others . . . our own Port Townsend and Jefferson County Leader (which began as a daily, the Morning Leader, 133 years ago come October).

The true Free Press has been a target of Donald Trump for some years now, but it has stood firmly against his endless lies, quest for headlines and senseless sloganeering via social media. But he has totally failed to command this key feature of an egomaniacal dictatorship. (Think Putin’s Russia, where the last paper critical of government finally closed its doors).

The real “fake news” just sits there, breaking no major laws and waiting to be quoted as the byword of some patriotic-sounding source dreamed up to serve Donald Trump. Meanwhile, on guns in general . . . Eight million (8,000,000) Americans became FIRST-TIME GUN OWNERS between 2019 and 2021, involving much of Trump’s term as president. Joe Biden was elected President on Nov. 3, 2020, but wasn’t inaugurated until Jan. 20, 2021, as the nation's 46th president.

With 400 million (officially) guns already in circulation, I think we owe Donald a major credit for the greater part of the 8-million increase that came during the early stages of the pandemic. Whatever the case, we have about 20,000 gun homicides nationally over the course of a year. Only about 1 percent of these are the mass shootings that make major headlines, frighten the public and effect new legislation.

So we average about 400 gun homicide deaths per state per year . . . hardly noticed in Port Townsend. So far.

Meanwhile, I’ve run out of time for this subject — and will move on.