By David Emery

Take a grain of truth, slather it with false and misleading statements, add a heaping dollop of paranoia, and what do you get?  A fresh, hot rumor guaranteed to generate pointless hysteria. For example, the following:

A grain of truth

False and misleading statements

• "Senate Bill SB-2099 will require us to put on our 2000 1040 federal tax Form all guns that you have or own."

  No, it won't. What the bill would require if it becomes law is the registration of all handguns. Its title is: "The Gun Registration and Safety Act of 2000."  There is indeed a provision for a tax on all registered weapons, but it has nothing to do with your federal income tax forms and everything to do with establishing a national database of handgun owners.

• "This bill will become public knowledge 30 days after it is voted into law."

  Nonsense. It has been public knowledge ever since its introduction. Gun rights groups such as the National Rifle Association have been monitoring it and have referenced it in legislative alerts.

• "This is an amendment to the Internal Revenue Act of 1986. This means that the Finance Committee can pass this without the Senate voting on it at all."

  Poppycock. It involves a revision of the Internal Revenue Act, yes, but this bill has to go through standard Senate protocols before it can be passed.  Besides, didn't a previous sentence say it would become public knowledge only after it is "voted into law?"

• "Please send a copy of this e-mail to every gun owner you know to help STOP this bill!!"

  By all means protest this bill or support it if you feel moved either way. But be aware that nobody – including its main sponsor – expects the unpopular proposal to survive committee, let alone pass. Even the National Rifle Association rates it a low priority, having stated as recently as August 25, "While NRA opposes this legislation, there is no real threat of it passing at this time. Please continue to focus your energy on pending legislation in the U.S. House, and especially, in the U.S. Senate, that poses immediate threats to our freedoms."

A heaping dollop of paranoia

Within this world view it makes sense to believe that Machiavellian schemes are afoot; that anti-gun forces seek to bypass the rule of law to pass secret legislation of which the populace will only be made aware when it's too late. This rumor was made to order. What it lacks in truth value it more than makes up for in high drama. In less than a month of circulation, the email has already resulted in hundreds of queries to Congressional offices from concerned but misled citizens. If the author(s) of the email intended to stir up a fuss, they have succeeded.

Lest anyone seek to justify the spread of misinformation by arguing that it's good for the gun rights cause because it rouses people to action, I would hasten to point out that it has also roused the opposing side. In fact, GunRegistration.org, an association dedicated to enacting registration laws, now flaunts a color-coded critique of the fallacious email on its Website to drum up support for the very bill it was designed to squelch.

Like the chain letters say, "What goes around comes around."

More information:

Reed Introduces Legislation to Register Handguns
From the U.S. Senate Website

National Rifle Association Legislative Alert
Scroll down to "Handgun Tax?"

Misleading Email
From GunRegistration.org

Fake Email Raises Concerns Among Gun Owners
From Scripps Howard News Service via Capitol Hill Blue