"I don't think anything that we're going to enact is going to stop shootings."

Last week’s murder of reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward by a psychologically damaged former coworker inspired the nation’s gun grabbers to renew their attack on the Second Amendment. That’s especially true given the killer was a black homosexual, because the Left no longer has a flag to ban — the rainbow flag found in the killer’s apartment is protected. So once again, we’re treated to a whole host of arguments about firearms that have been disproven by facts. But leftists aren’t the type of people who let facts get in the way of their goals.

A recent CNN interview with Democrat Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut is a prime example of just how anti-Second Amendment zealots think — though “think” is too generous a word.

Murphy lamented that Congress has done nothing about gun violence. “I believe that we have become complicit in these murders,” he complained. But by “we,” of course, Murphy means Republicans. “I’m speaking directly to the Republican leadership of the House and the Senate,” he lectured. “They should be bringing anti-gun violence bills to the floor.”

Murphy strides right over one of the fundamental flaws about the argument for tougher gun legislation. Many of the mass shootings that take place are carried out in states and cities that have the strictest gun laws. Take Chicago, for example, or Washington, DC, itself. On the other end of the spectrum, states with lax gun laws also have the lowest homicide rates.

Vermont and Utah both received an “F” from the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence for their loose gun restrictions. Yet these states have the third- and fourth-lowest homicide rates in the country, respectively. Shouldn’t these states receive an “A” from the LCPGV? After all, they seem to have done a pretty good job of preventing gun violence.

Which leads to another point: It’s not about the violence itself; it’s about control. Statists love centralized control — indeed, their ideology is based on it. But that kind of control is harder to enforce when private citizens are armed.

Murphy also takes to task former Virginia governor and Republican presidential candidate Jim Gilmore for stating an obvious point: The problem is not guns but reforming our mental health system. Gilmore and many others have connected the dots between mass shootings and killers with psychological problems. Clearly, if we had a stronger grasp on helping the mentally ill, we could prevent more of these murders.

But Murphy is having none of it. “The fact is that there’s no inherent connection between mental illness and violence, and that kind of talk should stop.” This is a straw man. Murphy is implying that Gilmore claimed that all mentally ill people are violent, which of course is not the case. What is the case is that mentally ill people perpetrate many of the mass shootings that are taking place. Even Mother Jones, the bible of the far Left, understands this.

Murphy also parrots Ezra Klein’s claim that we could bring the suicide rate down if there were fewer guns. Wrong again. Japan and South Korea have some of the most restrictive gun laws in the world — and some of the highest suicide rates.

Another tired claim Murphy regurgitates is the so-called gun-show loophole. This is the mysterious portal through which criminals supposedly obtain the firearms they use to commit crimes. Leftists yammer about the loophole because without that argument it becomes glaringly evident that crime isn’t reduced by taking guns away from law-abiding citizens.

A study conducted at the Cook County Jail among prisoners found that only 1.5% of respondents obtained their firearm at a gun store. A vast majority got it from another individual, through the black market, a gang or other unspecified connection.

The study admittedly had a small sample size, but it demonstrates something Second Amendment supporters have always known: Criminals don’t care where they get their guns, and they’re unaffected by stricter gun laws. Only law-abiding citizens are in danger when gun laws become more restrictive.

More guns do in fact lead to a safer society. Since 2007, the number of concealed carry permits in America has tripled to 12.8 million. Firearm production has gone up 140% in that time, thanks in part to our nation’s best gun salesman, Barack Obama. His anti-gun rhetoric has driven up demand for firearms like never before. And in that time, the murder rate and violent crime rate have dropped 25%. This is not a coincidence.

Finally, Murphy gave the entire game away with this comment: “I don’t think that we should expect that anything that we’re going to enact in Washington is going to stop shootings.”

So why do gun grabbers bother? Well, Murphy goes on to explain, “There’s no one legislative solution, but there are changes that will make a difference … just the action of Congress in any way, shape or form.”

In other words, leftists are going to try anything they can to bring down the Second Amendment. And we must always be ready to stop them.