Gun Rights Opponents Impotently Vent Their Outrage After the Rittenhouse Verdict

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By Larry Keane

Gun control groups have gone apoplectic over the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha, Wis. Looking at their statements, social media and reactions, gun control is no longer just gun control. Gun control is no longer about anything close to resembling common sense and has nothing to do with actual community safety.

It’s all about control and nothing less.

The Rittenhouse trial, news coverage and verdict exposed glaring blind spots in the politicians calling for a rushed prosecution, the media repeating debunked narratives and gun control groups conveniently ignoring actual heinous crimes previously committed by those who attacked Rittenhouse, including during the incidents in which he defended his own life.

The prosecution’s rush to charge and courtroom fumbles showed blatant – if not intentional – errors. Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University Law School, told Fox News, “They [prosecutors] rushed to bring charges against him and then when the case started to fall apart they seemed to become more and more desperate and they started to cut corners and make errors.”

That included attempting to turn Rittenhouse’s Constitutional rights against him in the courtroom. Prosecutors alleged Rittenhouse’s Fifth Amendment right to remain silent was indicative of supposed guilt. Prosecutors told the jury that Rittenhouse didn’t have an inherent right to self-defense and should have “taken” a “beating.” They claimed that the mere fact one possesses a firearm negates their self-defense claims.

Cue the Outrage

Rightfully, the jury rejected these perversions of Constitutional rights. That didn’t stop the gun control groups from piling on. This time, though, it wasn’t about guns. It was about clinging to identity groups and rehashing political grievances.

Giffords Law Center tweeted the verdict was a perversion of justice, writing, “Kyle Rittenhouse wielded his whiteness as a shield and his AR-15 as a weapon in the streets of Kenosha.”

For Giffords, the case was all about identity politics. In this case, Giffords chose race. They ignore the fact Rittenhouse’s attackers, against whom he defended himself, were all white. They also ignore that African-American gun buyers grew by 58 percent in 2020.

Guns America Digest’s S.H. Blannelberry catalogued some of gun control’s hot takes right after the verdict was rendered. March for Our Lives, an off-shoot of billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety, said Rittenhouse was a, “toxic mix of a white supremacist culture…” Shannon Watts, of Mom’s Demand Action gun control group, echoed disproven racial overtones, referencing Rittenhouse by his race.


These were all re-telling of misleading media narratives. For months, mainstream media spouted lies and knew they were false. These gun control groups were more than happy to add to the echo chamber. Rittenhouse’s defense attorney, Mark Richards, blasted the media for their purposeful misrepresentation of even the basic facts of the case. “And it makes me angry that they can’t take the time to at least get the generic, basic facts correct because it didn’t fit in the story they wanted to tell,” he told Fox News.

Defending Convicts, Child Molesters

These gun control groups that pose as the guardians of community safety are willfully ignorant of basic facts. What’s worse, they are openly defending Rittenhouse’s attackers. Here’s what they won’t say.

Rittenhouse’s attackers were all convicted felons. Joseph Rosenbaum, who was killed as Rittenhouse defended himself, was a 36-year-old from Kenosha. At the time of the incident, he was pending charges in Wisconsin for domestic abuse and jumping bail. He was convicted in Arizona in 2002 for child molestation charges, for which he was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Anthony Huber attacked Rittenhouse with his skateboard. The 26-year-old was killed in his attack on Rittenhouse as he was trying to seize Rittenhouse’s rifle. Prior to the incident, he was convicted of domestic abuse and disorderly conduct in 2018. He was sentenced in 2012 for a choking attempt on his own brother.

Gaige Grosskreutz, the 28-year-old who was shot in the arm by Rittenhouse, testified on the stand that he pointed a handgun at Rittenhouse before he was shot. None of the gun control groups questioned why Grosskreutz had a gun. He had a criminal charge against him dismissed just six days before the trial.

Gun control groups held up Grosskreutz as a “victim,” but never said anything of his history of criminal convictions of, “domestic abuse, trespassing, multiple DUIs, prowling, felony burglary, and two charges of carrying a firearm while drunk,” according to one report. At least one felony was expunged and several other charges were dismissed. There was never a mention of Grosskreutz carrying a concealed firearm without a valid concealed carry permit, to which he testified had expired.

The fake outrage, grasping at straws and hypocritical vilification of a young man defending himself while ignoring convicted felons who were true threats to community safety proves that gun control isn’t concerned about safer communities. They’re only concerned about banning guns.

 

Larry Keane is SVP for Government and Public Affairs, Assistant Secretary and General Counsel of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

 

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61 COMMENTS

    • They cannot officially acknowledge yet another act of the black terrorism, because it undermines their fantasy narrative of white terrorism. 😮

    • Waukesha Man was out on bail for…. Running over his girlfriend deliberately.
      Low cost bail, etc.
      New bail is higher. I am wondering if a racist organization will set up a “fund me” to help this oppressed man get bail?

    • Colin Kaepernick was the terrorist’s idol; you can see it in the archives social media.

      And, for the first time in years, Kaep’s Twitter account STFU for several days in a row since the attack. Retweets only.

      Kaeoernick inspired the deed and knows it.

    • The reason they’re not outraged is that they support murdering white people in response to court verdicts that hurt their feelings.

  2. All Leftist arguments ultimately appeal to emotion, not facts – because FACTS don’t support any of their positions. Nor would the recognize a fact if it fell out of the sky, landed on their face, and started to wiggle. Facts are to Leftists as kryptonite is to Superman.

    dacian the stupid, MinorIQ, and enuf, are you paying attention? (Not that it would matter.)

    • “All Leftist arguments ultimately appeal to emotion, not facts”

      in their religion, the universe exists for them. they don’t ask what the meaning of their lives is – for them, the purpose of life itself is them.

      so, for them, their emotions are the facts. and you’re evil if you don’t go along with their feelings.

      • That may, indeed, be the source of their psychosis – doesn’t make it not psychotic. Leftism is a mental disease.

    • Okay, so I submitted my first comment of the day here, and the site responds with “You’re submitting comments too quickly…slow down” and cancels my comment entirely. Huh?

      Dan, this site has been acting wonky again over the past several weeks.

  5. “Prosecutors told the jury that Rittenhouse didn’t have an inherent right to self-defense and should have “taken” a “beating.””

    That audio clip is gonna be 24-carat solid *gold* in the next major election.

    By that logic, a woman should just accept date rape as a part of choosing a mate.

    The mayor of London made a similar comment a year or so back when he replied to someone complaining about crime that they should just accept that as a part of living in a big city.

    Fvck that noise.

    I can see no clearer way to differentiate us from them – They believe a woman brutally raped is more righteous than a woman with a smoking .38 and a dead rapist at her feet.

    Yeah, let’s see how well that plays in middle America… 🙂

  6. Rosenbaum spawned a child? I wasn’t aware that pedophile rapists are able to impregnate underage boys. :/

  7. Also conveniently ignored that the protests in Kenosha turned to rioting, burning, and looting after dark. Further. there was no evidence adduced or introduced at trial that the three attackers were “peaceful protesters” or had anything to do with BLM. Rosenbaum had lit a fire in a dumpster with the intent of shoving it into a building (attempted arson). He was pissed at Rittenhouse for putting it out.The film of him confronting the guards at the car dealership demonstrate that he had nothing on his mid but violence. He threatened to kill people who were preventing him from engaging in his illegal aims, and that he was spoiling for a fight. No mention is made of the fact that Huber had his face covered in order to avoid identification, suggesting that he was an Antifa member or chose to engage in the same conduct that we have seen Antifa demonstrate time and again–rioting and burning. No mention is made of the fact that numerous Antifa members were in Kenosha instigating the rioting, burning and looting. In my view, Antifa shows up at BLM events not because they have any special affinity to the group but because those events present opportunities to engage in their anarchic behaviors.

    • “The film of him confronting the guards at the car dealership demonstrate that he had nothing on his mind but violence.”

      He got *exactly* what he was looking for.

      May many more like him get the same, in spades… 🙂

  8. There’s no reasoning with these people. They live in an alternate universe from me. The best I can do for myself is tune them out and have nothing to do with them. To the extent they try to force themselves on me by passing unconstitutional laws, well, laws are only effective if people are willing to comply with them.

    These people are irrational, and all their prescriptions to make the world better always involve having the actions of the criminal minority regulate the freedoms of the majority. There’s never any thought given to holding malefactors accountable for their deeds. It’s a never ending death spiral of the government placing ever increasing limits on normal people in the vain hope that that will somehow keep bad people from doing bad things.

    Everything these zealots do makes life worse, not better and at some point, there’s going to be a critical mass of people who are going to react to constantly being demonized and pushed around.

    • “They live in an alternate universe from me”

      close. more specifically they’re a different tribe from you. for them, their tribe is the universe.

    • I agree with both of your statements. I’ve given up trying to talk to these people, they’re fucking crazy. Or they are outright HORRIBLE people, which disgusts me to my core. Either way, I refuse to live with them.

      • they will never let you escape. they will pursue you to the ends of the earth demanding your submission and slavery, or your elimination otherwise.

  9. “36-year-old from Kenosha. At the time of the incident, he was pending charges in Wisconsin for domestic abuse and jumping bail. He was convicted in Arizona in 2002 for child molestation charges, for which he was sentenced to 14 years in prison”.

    That was 21 years ago, so he was 15 when convicted? How old was the child? These were probably kids playing doctor and the girl’s parents got offended, if it wasn’t, it still shouldn’t be brought out because he was a minor at the time.
    I am sure he was a pos, but state the facts or you are just as bad as the potential gun grabbers.

    • charged by a grand jury with 11 counts of child molestation and inappropriate sexual activity around children, including anal rape. The victims were five boys ranging in age from nine to 11 years old.

      Maybe you should do a little fact checking before spewing form the keyboard. BTW playing Dr. is also not legal nor right.

    • Uh 2020 – 2002 = 18 and 36-18 = 18, he might even have been 19 at the time. Next time don’t use common core math.

    • “We The People vent our outrage at dem/lib/communist party members still stealing our American air”

      that’s exactly how they see you.

  11. Guilty on all counts in Brunswick, GA. for Travis McMichaels, on all but one for his father, and all but three for the neighbor- it’s encouraging to see two proper jury verdicts within the last week. This gives one hope for a constitutional future for our country…

    • @Peter Gunn These are TWO very different cases. One involves actual self defense, the other was a matter of false arrest and undue use of force for a crime never committed or at least the defendants had NO DIRECT KNOWLEDGE of.
      You are correct. These verdicts were well thought out by the juries.

      • After watching both trials I realized that when the logic that was applied in the Rittenhouse case proving his innocence is applied to the Arbery case- it correspondingly proves how those knuckleheads were guilty.

        The most important difference between the two is… Kyle survived multiple attackers because he was armed- Ahmaud did not survive his attackers because he was unarmed.

        There’s your life lesson.

  12. “Today, the jury let him get away with murder.” — Giffords Law Center

    I could be mistaken … isn’t that libel and actionable?

    A jury (as part of our criminal justice system’s formal process) found Rittenhouse “NOT guilty” of murder, instead agreeing with Rittenhouse’s legal defense claim of self-defense justifiable homicide.

    I don’t see how there is any legal wiggle room there for Giffords to say that Rittenhouse is a murderer. I am guessing that Rittenhouse can add another few million dollars to his nest egg after his attorneys finish fisking Gifford for libel.

    • “isn’t that libel and actionable?”

      not really. it’s a free-floating opinion with no specific consequence.

    • “… isn’t that libel and actionable?”

      No. Calling someone a murderer is not the same as libel which needs to inflict damage upon reputation with some form of malicious intent more than name calling. The press and the others are pretty much in the not-libel area so far.

      • .40 cal,

        Yes, and no. Accusing someone of committing a felony is (in most states) considered ‘libel per se’ – the law recognizing that accusing someone of being a ‘felon’ or a ‘rapist’ or a ‘murderer’ is inhererntly damaging. Of course, opinion is protected, such that saying “I think [or ‘believe’ or ‘feel’] that X raped/murdered/assaulted Y” is a protected statement, while “X is a murderer/rapist/felon” is not.

        Admittedly, the precedent is all over the map, but that is the basis of the ‘per se’ doctrine. The issue, of course, becomes damages. You don’t have to be damaged financially to prevail in a case of ‘per se’ libel, but you can’t collect more than nominal damages unless you can prove the harm.

        Courts, state legislatures, and Congress ABSOLUTELY need to address the whole area of libel and slander – our current laws are a joke – but Kyle was clearly libeled by the media. Nothing about saying “Kyle Rittenhouse is a murderer” (paraphrase that accurately characterizes 50%+ of media coverage) is an “opinion”. It is a categorical statement of an objective fact (commission of a felony crime), AFTER he has been acquitted by a jury – i.e., a disgusting lie. Anyone is welcome to say “I think what Kyle did is, or should be, considered murder”, but saying “Kyle committed murder”, after a jury has EXPRESSLY acquitted him of that exact charge, is simply a lie. And libelous. And disgusting.

  13. “It’s all about control and nothing less”

    yep. not of guns – they have no problem being armed themselves – but control of you.

    • Oh yeah. He’s got several really good defamation cases, and I hope he absolutely shits all over all of them. He deserves it, and so do they.

  15. There are still people who think Rittenhouse shot three black guys.

    Ok idiots, here is what happened:

    Rittenhouse shot three WHITE guys who attacked him, killed two and wounding one.

    Rittenhouse shot AT one black guy that attacked him and missed.

    The black guy basically ran away, the white guys persisted in their attacks.

    All three of the white guys were convicted “violent” felons committing felonys against Rittenhouse. The black guy committed a felony by attacking Rittenhouse.

    Rittenhouse did not pursue any of them. They came to him intending harm.

    Having been attacked by four violent felons intending malice and harm, and having no other choice believing his life was in danger, Rittenhouse exercised equal opportunity self-defense.

    • Those white-supremacist racist oppressor facts do not suit the narrative desired, and can therefore be dismissed.

      The truth, which varies from person to person, but must still be heard, according to Our Vice President, is that a white supremacist drove an illegal fully semi-automatic assault weapon across state lines to a city where he had no right to be with the express purpose of committing racism by interfering with a peaceful protest over police brutality; While repressing minorities by brandishing said assault weapon, he was seen spraying bullets randomly at innocent peaceful protesters, which caused concerned neutral race-ally observers to believe that he posed a lethal threat, at which three brave race allies, who identified as black, attempted to disarm him and save countless lives, including those of babies, puppies, and minorities; However, when they attempted to gently remonstrate with the white supremacist fascist oppressor, he emptied his assault weapon’s high-capacity clipazine of armor-piercing full metal hollow point incendiary bullets into their bodies, one at a time, and then skipped joyfully to his next victim to repeat his murderous attack. When his white supremacist racist oppressor blood-lust was sated, he frolicked off to rejoin his cop friends, who had encouraged him in the first place.

      Your truth may vary.

  16. I live that white supremacist culture valuing property over life. It wasn’t the white kids in my school stabbing each other for Jordans and Starter jackets.

  17. Hot takes like that Brewer moron is one of the reasons that I refuse to even consider the opinions of leftoids like him. I don’t even like a lot of the policies and ideology from a lot of main line right wing conservatism. But the left is just so gorram disconnected from reality that there no way to even reach them. Especially given how many of them are completely brain-washed by MSM propaganda that objective reality can never breach their echo chamber. My god, I STILL see people on social media that cling to the fiction that the three men that Kyle Rittenhouse shot were black.

        • Oh, MY! I am CRUSHED that you don’t approve. Your approbation and love meant SO much to me, and now I find that some random stranger with a fetish about other random strangers doesn’t like something that I said. WhatEVER shall I do now? How can I go on?

          Twit.

  18. Extremist groups are always expert at elevating their dead thugs from mere dead thugs to beloved martyrs; It’s not limited to the Left, of course (those German fellows back in the 1930s had Horst Wessel), but they do seem to carry it to extremes.
    Huber and Grosskreutz are just the latest in a long line of ‘martyred heroes’ that before becoming dead were rather unpleasant folk, but by the mere accomplishment of becoming dead have been thus deified.
    We should expect statues of both, with icons portraying them as Jesus to follow.

  19. IT is clear that the Leftist-Socialist Anti-gun Radicals have no clue about this thing we call self defense.

  20. Oh my gods everything guns is racist!!!!! Everything against the left is racist. Everything against our dictates is racist!!!

    Let me tell you about a story called ‘The boy who cried wolf’……….

  22. So can giffords and the rest of the gangs of retards explain how rioting, looting, and arson are not vigilantism?

  23. Hopefully what he means about the Kosher background is its the thing that happens when the bookish nerd Sons of Aaron are your role models rather than Macabees. Yahweh is a warrior, boys and girls, and you are his tools willing or not. Read the Old Testament correctly and there’s plenty smiting going on and everyone doing it eats Kosher, since there was no refrigeration or the FDA.

    Ignoring the word is bad for both Christian and Jew, “The Lord is my rock, he teaches my hands to war and prepares my fingers for battle”.

    You ready?

  24. “Yahweh is a warrior, boys and girls, and you are his tools willing or not. Read the Old Testament correctly and there’s plenty smiting going on…”

    And that’s what you get when man makes God in his image. Indoctrinate children with this kind of malevolence and you end up with, well… a world like the one we have today. Congratulations.

    Keep up the good work.

    • Well Mr Gunn, horse pucky! God made man in his image and likeness. Not the other way around. Atheists are the ones trying to “indoctrinate” along with Leftist-Socialist minions.
      Atheism is doomed to oblivion and failure.

      • In that narrative men decribe their God as being jealous, vain, insecure, vengeful, misanthropic, misogynistic… just the kind of “perfect being” that deserves worship- right? That view chronicles a human nature that is so narcissistic that we attribute our cardinal sins to our own deity in a feelble attempt to abnegate our own inadequacies. What a contemptible ratonalization that is. And what a wholesome story to teach your children…

        Atheism may indeed be doomed to oblivion and failure- that is the nature of all hominine dogma. I personally don’t accede to the atheistic viewpoint- I see too much proof to the contrary.

        • Mr Gunn, by a “jealous” God, it is meant that there be no other gods before Him or us. He is not “vain, insecure, vengeful, misanthropic nor misogynistic. Atheists might fit all of those descriptive adjectives though.
          As God did create the universe, He is most definitely worthy of being worshiped.
          Are you trying to tell me that you believe in God? Or is that more horse pucky!

        • It is the folly of man that he would deign to circumscribe his own defects onto the intelligence that designed everything. I believe that intelligence is exponentially more profound than anything imagined in our narcissistic religions that we’ve concocted during our short time on the scene.

          But, to each their own.

        • Peter Gunn, depends on what you think is “folly”? But then atheists such as yourself believe themselves to be “gods” unto themselves. Speaking of narcissistic….you and Obuma the Phony have something in common.

        • And, yet again, WEB the turd reminds us all of why it’s best just to ignore his type here on TTAG… not only do you not listen to what people are saying- you have no intention of hearing anything other than the imperious voice in your head.

          Carry on.

        • Peter Gunn, And yet again, Peter Gunn shows his true colors. I have surely listened to what you are said in spite of your denials. Like many, you try to be all things to all people. Tell us, are you a politician? Speaking of imperious voice…
          Seems you are giving away your true colors. You have exposed the real you.

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