President Joe Biden’s effort today to blame guns for the spike in violent crimes doesn’t pass the smell test, according to Second Amendment advocates who instead blame police defunding and criminal “coddling.”

Just hours before the president readies the release of a rehash of anti-gun efforts, industry supporters are pointing to the lack of evidence that the recent surge in gun buying has had any impact on increased crime levels.

And they are tying defunding efforts and the demonizing of police to the crime surge in the biggest, and most liberal, cities around the nation.

“It is the height of hypocrisy for Joe Biden to demonize guns, gun dealers, and gun owners. For the past year, the anti-gun Left looked the other way when rioters were destroying cities and murdering civilians and cops,” said Erich Pratt, senior vice president of Gun Owners of America.

“Not only that, the anti-gun Left began releasing criminals early from jail and started defunding the police in several big cities. The police were vilified so badly that they began retiring early in droves. Others took extended time off work or suffered from the ‘blue flu,’” he added.

Republican attorneys general added that they warned a year ago that letting anti-police rioters take over cities and attack police stations would lead to rising crime.

“Unfortunately, the Republican AGs’ warnings have come true as efforts to defund the police have contributed to the recent spike in violent crime,” they told Secrets…

“Now Biden has the audacity to point to this rise in crime and blame it on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding gun owners. That’s disgusting,” Pratt said.

“The Left has yet to learn the lesson that coddling criminals and demonizing the police results in more crime. In Portland, the refusal to go after rioters but to prosecute an officer instead resulted in the entire riot squad resigning en masse last week. This, of course, will lead to more violence, which will then be used by the Left to demonize firearms again. Fewer police plus disarmed victims equals more violence,” he added.

Article by Paul Bedard