Black Monday
Not much to say at a time like this. How awful. What a horrible way to die. What a senseless tragedy. The local yokels — Steger & Flinchum — obviously criminally negligent, nevertheless make the bumptious assertion that they did all they could. Annoyingly, a day later, authorities have yet to release information about who did it, or why. And even the Tyrant leapt in with two left feet, rallying the Red Tide against gun control. Whatever one's position, Virginia has some of the most lax gun laws in the nation, whereas common sense suggests it really should be more difficult to purchase a handgun than a six-pack. In this case it probably wouldn't have mattered if indeed early news reports are correct that the guns used had had their serial numbers filed down. But add the gun control issue anyway to hot buttons for 2008. Nor will the jitters clear for a very long time.
Posted by George Kenney on April 17, 2007 7:06 AM 
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Comments
A horrible incident. Today, here in Japan, the mayor of Nagasaki was shot by a mobster and is in serious condition. So gun control is not perfect, but that is not to say it isn't effective. Japan has only about as many gun deaths in an entire year as the US does every day.
Posted by: Pandabonium | April 17, 2007 8:52 AM
I happened to be driving Monday night through North Carolina and caught the always excellent BBC World broadcast. The hosts and interviewers were all asking "Isn't this going to finally cause America to adopt serious gun control measures?" Of course, all the interviewees responded "No".
The data is very clear on the subject of gun control but it is another "third rail" in American politics, probably having to do with our individualistic culture, and the glorification of violence as a solution to problems in the media and in foreign policy.
The irony is that so many of the defenders of easy access to handguns and assault weapons are the same people who claim they believe in the "sanctity of human life".
Posted by: Charles | April 18, 2007 10:05 AM