There's a reason that the statistics are no longer released. It's because of irresponsible assertions by groups like Americans for Gun Safety.

The "traces" simply track a gun back to the first purchaser. They fail to account for guns later transferred as private property. They also fail to account for firearms stolen by criminals. The statistics try to lay the blame for crime on a gun dealer who executed a sale in compliance with the law.

A good analogy would be to trace every automobile injury and fatality back to the dealer who sold a new car to its first owner and then to blame the car dealer for the actions of every driver who drove that car during its life.

Aren't drivers rather than salespeople to blame for most auto accidents? Can you think of an auto accident caused by a car dealer?

Congress allowed the assault weapons ban of 1994 to sunset. Why? Because every study of the bill -- even by the Clinton administration, which pushed its passage -- has shown that it has had no measurable impact on crime. You can forecast rivers of blood and soaring crime rates if you want, but the facts indicate otherwise.

Law enforcement agencies report that "assault weapons" are used in only an infinitesimal percentage of crimes in the United States. The law has sunset and I predict that the same thing will happen to the crime rate that happened when this ineffective law passed in 1994 -- nothing!

Congress acted appropriately; crime is being blamed on criminals, not law-abiding manufacturers and business people. It certainly isn't listening to hysterics like those written by left-wing gun control advocates and published by your newspaper.

I'm sure that alot of you have good intentions and want to live in a safe society, but it seems that some of you don't see the truth....or want to.

The National Rifle Association doesn't sell firearms and doesn't have a goal of selling lots of them. Its members come from many walks of life and social backgrounds, and they simply want to be able to hunt, fish, shoot at targets and be safe in their own homes. Many give time to educate others about firearms and firearms safety.

YOU might like to have ALL firearms in America confiscated. But a close look at the effects of gun control laws might change your mind....might. Several countries have enacted such laws -- some quite extreme -- but the crime rates in those countries have increased or have stayed the same.

Why? Because when firearms are taken from those who obey the law, criminals keep the firearms they already possess. Law-abiding citizens, who have surrendered their arms, then become easy targets.

A police officer that i know in Fort Worth, Texas told me quite some time back:

We're wrong when we hold a manufacturer responsible for the acts of criminals. This nation has been built and maintained by people who believe in holding individuals accountable for their actions. Criminals must be punished properly and held accountable for their criminal acts. The laws are on the books already!

The NRA is a civil rights organization (unlike the ACLU) that defends the rights of law-abiding citizens to own firearms and the right of manufacturers of firearms or any product to do business free from liability for the actions of people over whom they have no control.

Fighting lawsuits is expensive, even though the manufacturer had nothing to do with the incident that a gold-digging lawyer is trying to get rich off of.