Even WaPo Is Skeptical About Stricter Gun Laws

There is little proof that more restrictive gun laws would “dramatically” decrease instances of violent crime, The Washington Post wrote in a newsletter Thursday.

“Certainly, some gun-control policies help reduce violence,” The Post’s Amber Phillips wrote in Thursday’s issue of “The 5-Minute Fix” newsletter, but went on to say that the “evidence is thin” that additional restrictions on guns “would quickly and dramatically reduce rates of gun violence.”

“The Washington Post is a news organization and does not ‘push’ for any legislation,” a spokesperson for The Post told The Daily Caller News Foundation.

Phillips also wrote that the United States has the most guns per person in the world, adding that gun violence might not go down for years, and that it would be hard to determine why the violence decreased. She also noted there were instances where guns were used to save lives but did not cite examples.

The Post’s editorial board advocated for stricter gun laws many times over the years, including in an editorial calling for a court of appeals to reverse a 2021 ruling by a federal district judge that threw out California’s ban on military-style firearms. It also called for a federal ban on so-called “assault weapons” in 2018 and 2019 opinion columns.

A mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and two teachers reignited debate over gun control laws. Democrats, including President Joe Biden, called for a ban on assault weapons.

“The idea that an 18-year-old can walk into a store and buy weapons of war designed and marketed to kill is I think just wrong,” Biden said Wednesday at the White House.

The National Rifle Association did not respond to a request for comment from TheDCNF.