But seven of the ten states with the highest murder rates voted for former President Trump in 2020.

Most of those murders involved guns and took place in southern states with lax gun control laws enacted by Republican governors and legislatures.

So, how can Democrats be attacked as the party responsible for the rise in crime?

It was a valiant attempt on Williams’ part, but as you will see, his argument holds as much water as a thimble. The commentator continued, arguing that former President Donald Trump’s comments about crime “are less about tragic murders than former President Trump’s continued success in exploiting America’s racial politics.”

He continued:

His constant talk about the rise in violent crime is a way to connect crime and racial minorities — without taking responsibility for playing racial politics. And it is a strategic way for congressional Republicans to go after Democrats as the party in charge of big cities.

I can’t tell whether Williams knows he just defeated his “Republicans are responsible for rising crime” argument with that last sentence, or if he just thinks the reader will not make the connection. The author goes on to discuss American attitudes about crime, citing a Gallup poll showing that 51 percent of Americans believe there was “more crime” in their communities. About 74 percent believed crime had increased nationally from the year before.

Williams attributes this “exaggerated fear” to Republicans who continually show how violent crime has increased in America’s major cities. He further blames the GOP for not embracing Biden’s anti-gun agenda:

In Congress, Republicans continue to block gun control legislation despite strong support for halting brisk sales of illegal guns, background checks, tracking gun sales, and bans on assault-style weapons.

Williams’ arguments are so absurd even a five-year-old could dismantle them.

For starters, while many of the cities experiencing heightened crime rates are in red states, Williams seems as if he hopes people won’t recognize that each of these areas are run by Democratic politicians, most of whom are virulently anti-gun. Anyone with an IQ higher than my shoe size knows that local government is most responsible for ensuring the safety of its residents.

Sure, state government can support local law enforcement under certain circumstances, but in general, it is the mayor and city council who are responsible for fighting crime. Texas. Gov. Greg Abbott is not responsible for increased crime rates in Austin. Mayor Steve Adler and the city council are the ones imposing policies – like defunding the police – that have contributed to the record-level homicide rate we had last year.

But people like Williams believe they can play on people’s ignorance.

Next, we have the authors’ complaints about GOP politicians supporting measures designed to make it more difficult for responsible citizens to own firearms. Anyone familiar with the pew pew life understands that imposing stricter gun laws would not decrease gun crime. In fact, it would make it harder for Americans – especially racial minorities – to defend themselves.

But another inconvenient truth about gun laws is the fact that the vast majority of gun violence is committed by people using firearms they obtained illegally. These people were not cowed by Williams’ cherished gun control legislation. Even The Washington Post published an article discussing a study showing this:

[Researchers] found that in approximately 8 out of 10 cases, the perpetrator was not a lawful gun owner but rather in illegal possession of a weapon that belonged to someone else. The researchers were primarily interested in how these guns made their way from a legal purchase — at a firearm dealer or via a private sale — to the scene of the crime.

Another noteworthy issue in Williams’ arguments is that he never actually shows how Americans’ fears over rising crime rates are unfounded. He doesn’t actually delve into the numbers. There’s a reason for that: He is full of bovine excrement and he knows it.

The fact that the author would even write a piece in which he makes these weak arguments is telling: He is willfully trying to deceive those who know little about firearms and gun violence. He seeks to gaslight his audience into believing crime ain’t all that bad. Unfortunately for him and his contemporaries, America isn’t buying it.