April 25, 2007
EV...:
Democrats still silent on gun control (Derrick Z. Jackson, April 25, 2007, Boston Globe)
Last week's massacre at Virginia Tech that claimed 33 lives has done little to reignite the gun-control debate. One expects nothing from the Bush administration and the Republicans, who beginning with the 2000 elections have received 92 percent of the $9.1 million in campaign contributions from gun-rights organizations, according to the Center for Responsible Politics.The Democrats, not officially beholden to the National Rifle Association, have been cowards more concerned about reelection in centrist districts than the trauma to American children. The same Reid who bemoans the loss of life over a failed Iraq war said about Virginia Tech, "I hope there's not a rush to do anything. We need to take a deep breath." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ignored a question by a reporter on whether Virginia Tech would inspire Democrats to revisit gun control. All she said was, "the mood in Congress is one of mourning, sadness, and the inadequacy of our words or our actions to console the families and the children who were affected there."
"Inadequacy of our words or our actions" was a Freudian slip. None of the home pages on the websites of Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama, or John Edwards says anything about guns in relation to Virginia Tech. This is despite the fact that the US public arsenal, according to the Small Arms Survey, an independent research group based in Switzerland, "is comparable or even greater than the total firearms of all the armed forces in the entire world."
This week, Massachusetts Representative Michael Capuano told the Globe "we know we're going to lose" on any serious push for gun control because "the NRA has this place wrapped up." With defeatism like that, who needs a Democratic majority?
Posted by Orrin Judd at April 25, 2007 9:54 AM
The Democrats, not officially beholden to the National Rifle Association, have been cowards more concerned about reelection in centrist districts than the trauma to American children.
What a maroon. Resenting that politicians are at least a little sensitive towards the politics of their constituents.
And you gotta love the "it's for the children!!!" shtick.
Posted by: Twn at April 25, 2007 11:00 AM"...despite the fact that the US public arsenal, ...is comparable or even greater than the total firearms of all the armed forces in the entire world."
That is why unless every gun-totting criminal is disarmed, it is stupid to impose more gun control laws.
Posted by: ic at April 25, 2007 1:40 PMThat's it. There are so many guns out there that there is no possibility of domestic disamament.
The only thing the state can do is to disarm the law-abiding.
It really is quite remarkable. I am a "regular" at several gun shops in my part of the city, and I can testify that, day in, day out, new guns are flying out of their doors. And yet, the old ones are still in circulation, for the most part, as good as the day they were made.
I just obtained a beautiful old S&W 5-screw, hand-ejector .38, some 80 years old, which put its first 3 shots in a 25-yard x-ring.
My point is that is is simply not possible, not by any means, to make the old guns go away. We should stop even thinking about it: it can't happen.
If it could be done by some magic, criminals would rearm by guns made anew in small machine shops or simply smuggled in. Hide a gun in every bale of marijuana, have every illegal immigrant carry one in, and in no time at all, every criminal who wanted a gun could have one.
This exposes the anti-gun agenda. It is merely a facade for big government, a plot to make civil society totally dependent upon the state for protection from crime. If the law-abiding are rendered helpless before the social scum, they can only acquisce in whatever demands for wealth and power the party wishes to impose.
The anti-gun proposals for the most part are not aimed at crime prevention but at the intermediate goals of burdening and weakening the gun culture preparatory to the "next step."
Posted by: Lou Gots at April 25, 2007 5:14 PMI don't even own a pistol, though as a kid I was a good pistol-shot. But I'm going to go buy one this weekend just in metaphysical spite towards these ninnnies. There are a couple of nearby ranges -- I can finally get back up to speed.
Posted by: Twn at April 26, 2007 1:42 PM