Boomsticks: Weekly Check on the Lies Bias.

Jeff at Alphecca has his Weekly Check up, and this week it includes a blurb from lying reporter Ken Schram of KOMO-TV in Seattle.

I'm sorry, but this oft-repeated lie is one that triggers the same reaction in me that the red cape triggers in the bull in Bugs Bunny cartoons: my eyes turn red, steam comes out of my nostrils, the works...

Are you ready for the lie? Here it is:

Yet even though there are more than 11,000 people a year murdered by guns here in the U.S., more guns are more easily available then ever before.

Ken, this is bovine exhaust of the first order; how you can repeat it with a straight face is lost on me. The fact is this: Buying a gun has become more and more difficult over the years in this country, not easier. At no time in this nation's history has buying a firearm been more of a pain in the butt. If the intimidating "pro-gun lobby" has all the politicos in DC shaking under their beds, then how come every law those politicos have passed has been to make it harder to buy a gun, not easier?

In 1933, you could send money to Sears and buy a machine gun through the mail, with no questions asked.

In 1967, a fifteen year-old could walk into a hardware store and, showing no ID other than some pictures of Andrew Jackson and filling out no paperwork other than the warranty card, walk out with the handgun of his choice. The only background check might have been the proprietor asking "Is this for you or your dad, Bobby?"

In 1986 a teen could walk into a sporting goods store in a mall and buy a semiautomatic rifle and five hundred rounds of ammunition after filling out one small form and undergoing no background check, and walk her purchase out through the mall, no questions asked.

In 1994 you could drive to Georgia from Tennessee and buy the scariest-looking riot shotgun on the rack with your photo ID and, again, no background check.

In 2006, to buy a simple single-shot .22 rifle, of the type used to teach gun safety and marksmanship to Cub Scouts, here in the gun-friendly state of Tennessee, you must show current photo ID, the address on which must match your current residence address. You must fill out a page and a half of a big tri-fold form, and then wait for the seller to fill out the rest. You must wait while an invasive background check is performed on you and the serial numbers of the gun (even if brand new) are checked to make sure it is not stolen. You must give your thumbprints, for Vishnu's sake.

...and this, this is "more easily available."

Ken, you're either too dumb to be a reporter, or too dishonest to look in the mirror while shaving.

Which is it, Ken?

Idiot?

Or liar?