In Joe Biden’s America, the quickest way to marginalize an individual or a group is by labeling them racist. It can happen to anyone since the accusations don’t have to be supported by facts. Once the label has been cast, the legacy media takes over. The accused will become the target of relentless coverage, mostly opinion, which reinforces their racism, whether it’s real or imagined. Their friends and supporters will flee, and there’s definitely no appeal since anyone who is forced to deny they’re racist only appears more racist.
It was only a matter of time before the gun ban industry saw the utility of racist labeling and incorporated it into their battle plans.
A study released this week attempts to paint pro-gun youth – and by extension, all of us – with a racist brush. The authors even added a dose of “male supremacy” for seasoning.
Titled “U.S. Youth Attitudes on Guns,” the study was conducted by Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety, the Southern Poverty Law Center, which is pivoting more toward gun control every day, and the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab, known as PERIL.
PERIL began by studying hate and extremist behavior in Germany. Their goal for operating in the United States is to “develop an empirically-tested, nationally-scalable intervention to prevent youth from radicalizing to white supremacist extremism.” According to their website, PERIL is funded by Everytown for Gun Safety, the SPLC, the anti-gun Joyce Foundation, the City of Seattle, other anti-gun nonprofits, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Their research was divided into three phases:
Phase 1 examined the pro-gun media.
“Based on the field expertise of our team, we identified and assessed 68 online, pro-gun media sources. Of these, 15 channels were selected, based on the wide range, high-volume and high-engagement levels they demonstrated,” the report states. “These included social media and user generated content platforms Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, Facebook, 4chan and blogs.”
Phase 2 surveyed more than 4,000 youth aged 14-30. The authors do not explain why 19- to 30-year-olds were considered youth.
Phase 3 is ongoing and consists of interviews and focus groups involving the 4,000 youths recruited for the study.
Findings
While the findings for Phase 3 are preliminary because of the ongoing nature of the research, the findings for Phases 1 and 2 are about what you’d expect from three anti-gun groups. A majority of the youths said “gun violence” was a problem. Forty-two percent claimed they had easy access to guns, and a quarter reported they had “experienced an active shooter lockdown.”
“Furthermore,” the authors noted, “a young person’s access to guns, identification with gun culture and exposure to media relating to guns correlated with concerning beliefs like support for male supremacy, belief that the Second Amendment gives individuals the right to overthrow the government, higher levels of racial resentment and post-traumatic stress disorders.”
The authors noted in an appendix that they referenced more than 50 books, studies, reports and news stories from television and print media, including CNN and The New York Times. Four of these reports were written by Everytown for Gun Safety.
Once the ink was dry on this study, the authors turned to another Bloomberg-owned anti-gun group, the Trace, to help get the word out.
“A new nationally representative survey examining young people’s attitudes toward guns and gun violence found that respondents who identify with gun culture often hold male supremacist and racist beliefs. The report found that young people who are most closely associated with guns are more likely to be white people people (sic) with symptoms of mental distress,” the Trace announced in an email Monday morning.
Takeaways
This report bears all the hallmarks of a traditional Bloomberg PSYOP. There is no doubt Everytown agreed to fund it only after the authors agreed on what their findings would be. But unlike their previous propaganda, this one targets our kids. That, friends, is inexcusable.
Our youth are neither racist nor male supremacists, whatever that means, nor are they mentally ill or suffering from PTSD or “higher levels of racial resentment.”
Bloomberg and his ilk went too far and deserve to be called out, but that’s just the gun writer in me talking, and Tiny Mike would warn you I’ve been exposed to the gun media for far too long.
This story is presented by the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project and wouldn’t be possible without you. Please click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support more pro-gun stories like this.
About Lee Williams
Lee Williams, who is also known as “The Gun Writer,” is the chief editor of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project. Until recently, he was also an editor for a daily newspaper in Florida. Before becoming an editor, Lee was an investigative reporter at newspapers in three states and a U.S. Territory. Before becoming a journalist, he worked as a police officer. Before becoming a cop, Lee served in the Army. He’s earned more than a dozen national journalism awards as a reporter, and three medals of valor as a cop. Lee is an avid tactical shooter.
