Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA), on December 17, 2012, announced that she will introduce a bill in the next Congress to stop the sale, transfer, importation, and manufacturing of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition feeding devices (otherwise known as magazines).  When asked, "Which special interests in Washington have too much power?," Feinstein answered in May 2012, "Guns."  She continued, "We now have something happening in the US that has never happened before.  That is, children killing children with guns.  Over 13 a day." 

As Mark Kogan says, "In one sweeping stroke, Feinstein intends to instigate the pro-gun lobby, alienate the majority of Americans who oppose re-instating a federal assault weapons ban, and run headlong into a constitutional battle[.]"

And let's not forget that in 1995, on CBS's 60 Minutes, Feinstein said, "If I could've gotten 51 votes in the Senate of the United States for an outright ban, picking up every one of them -- Mr. and Mrs. America turn 'em all in -- I would have done it. I could not do that.  The votes weren't here."  So we all know Feinstein's ultimate goal.

Even Alan Colmes has weighed in on Feinstein's proposal.  He calls it "sensible."  Colmes said, "Feinstein's sensible proposal, par in almost every other civilized nation, calls for banning the sale, transfer, importation or manufacturing of military-style weapons[.]"  Colmes also says, "Conservatives who claim to care about the safety and well-being of children, even those already born, would be wise to show they mean it by agreeing to public policy steps that would protect all of us."  This is, I suppose, Colmes' attempt to tie gun control to the abortion issue.  Liberals just never let up, do they?

But hypocrisy is creeping (or stampeding) into Feinstein's proposal.  To wit, the MSM, Obama, Feinstein, and the Democrats play down or ignore gun violence caused by Fast & Furious, yet they call for gun control when they cannot be directly linked to the violence.  As Alan P. Halbert, in his January 2 AT article, "Senator Feinstein's Constitutional End-run," said, "[t]he result [of Fast & Furious] was the deaths of federal agents Brian Terry and Jaime Zapata, along with another thirteen American citizens, and several hundred Mexicans."  Are we witnessing a double standard here?

Of course, it's also worth considering that, as William A. Levinson puts it, "Feinstein's latest attack on the Second Amendment relies entirely on public ignorance of firearms and their legitimate uses[.]"

So, in an effort to save Senator Feinstein some embarrassment (not), I want to call this fact to her attention, as well as to that of all the other gun-control advocates.

The number of murders committed annually with hammers and clubs is much greater than the number of murders committed with rifles.  There were, in 2011, 323 murders committed with a rifle, while at the same time there were 496 murders committed with hammers and clubs.  In fact, "nearly twice as many people are killed by hands and fists each year than are killed by murderers who use rifles."  The above is supplied by the FBI.

Can we expect Senator Feinstein to introduce a bill to stop the sale, transfer, importation, and manufacturing of hammers and other blunt instruments?  Feinstein may want to view the chart that Kyle Becker presented in this article.  Death by "alcohol abuse" is number 4 on the "killer" list.  We all know how effective the 18^th Amendment was.  Death by "tobacco use" is overwhelmingly the number-1 cause, while death from "medical errors" is number 2.  Does that mean that Senator Feinstein will introduce a bill to stop the sale, transfer, importation, and manufacturing of tobacco products?  But she can't do that, since the taxes on tobacco products fund so many children's health initiatives.  Can we then expect a bill that proposes to stop the sale, transfer, importation, and manufacturing of all medical equipment, medical doctors, and hospitals?

And speaking of blunt instruments, look at the number-9 cause of death on the list: "non-firearm homicides."  The asterisk beside this category identifies, by the FBI, a baseball bat as the most-used item to cause death.  Can we expect Senator Feinstein to react to this fact as well?

This is a great example of the selective outrage of Senator Feinstein, and her selection is loudly trumpeted by the MSM while she ignores other killers.  True, there have been some rather high-profile shootings in the past year.  But when it comes to other causes of death, Senator Feinstein, Obama, other Democrats, and the MSM are very quiet.

Dr. Beatty earned a Ph.D. in quantitative management and statistics from Florida State University.  He was a (very conservative) professor of quantitative management specializing in using statistics to assist/support decision-making.  He has been a consultant to many small businesses and is now retired.  Dr. Beatty is a veteran who served in the U.S. Army for 22 years.  He blogs at rwno.limewebs.com.