This afternoon's shootings at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum are so awful as to defy credulity. A deranged white supremacist, it seems, started firing at the museum's entrance. When I came to the Atlantic's offices this afternoon, TV crews and a crowd stood outside of George Washington University Medical Center where one of the guards who stopped the gunman is being treated. Helicopters are circling the city. The overlapping police authorities are on display with law enforcement officials from the Park Police, FBI, District of Columbia and elsewhere. It's an insane moment and yet, I assume, we're just a few hours away from a very predictable debate over gun control.
Yesterday's gubernatorial primary in Virginia, where State Senator Creigh Deeds won, would seem to add more proof to the idea that Democrats are done with gun control. Deeds had voted to allow concealed weapons in nightclubs and bars, among other things because, hey, you always want extra weapons near the liquor. Barack Obama made no big deal of gun control in his race. Back in 2000, Bill Bradley had proposed the licensing of all handguns in the U.S. Of course, each time there's a high-profile shooting like the Virginia Tech massacre there are renewed calls for gun control or at least more modest measures to ensure that the mentally ill and criminals don't have easy access to guns.
That today's shooting took place on what's considered almost sacred ground means that the discussion on cable and in the press will center more on anti-semitism, white supremicist nutjobs and the sheer humanity of the moment, but at some point we'll be back to gun control again. So far, though, all of the momentum is with gun control opponents. In New York for instance, Kirsten Gillibrand, the appointed U.S. Senator who is seeking election next year, is almost certain to win her primary even though she's a favorite of Second Amendment hyperbolists. Last year, of course, the Supreme Court struck down the District of Columbia's ban on handguns. I thought the ban was wrong but that D.C. had a right to it. Antonin Scalia, whose obvious glee was apparent in every paragraph of the Court's opinion, not only struck down the ban but also its demand for mandatory trigger locks. You not only had a right to a handgun but a right to a loaded one on your nightstand.
I've covered a lot of high-profile shootings over the years. I stood on the Capitol grounds a decade ago when a mentally ill gunman shot Capitol Police officers guarding the office of Tom DeLay. I don't think I've ever seen gun control forces in such a weak position, despite the White House and the Congress being under Democratic control.
Honestly, post-Heller and with the Supreme Court more likely than not to extend that right to the states, blanket firearms restrictions to the extent necessary to stop this sort of thing are going to be impossible to pass within the law. However, Heller says nothing about a right to possess and purchase guns without the knowledge of the government, so I'd expect to see more of a focus on closing background-check loopholes, strengthening rules stopping ex-cons from getting guns, etc.
I'm not familiar with all of the details of their previous arrests, but I doubt that either this guy or Tiller's killer was actually possessing their gun legally. They certainly shouldn't have been able to do so legally, anyway.
renewed calls for gun control or at least more modest measures to ensure that --the-- mentally ill and criminals don't have easy access to guns
You err. No gun law addresses the caricature "the" mentally ill. What does the law actually say. Please inform readers.
Harold A. Maio
Imagine we had strict gun control laws in the U.S. Imagine that the mere possesion of a firearm could land you in federal prison for five years. Just close your eyes and try to picture what it would look like.....
You have the image yet? Good.
Because those laws already exist for convicted felons. The shooter was a convicted felon and commited a serious crime just by holding a firearm. He couldn't pass the already mandated background check so its unlikely he got his gun from a dealer. Maybe he bought his gun from an individual and depending on the state there may not be a background check required for private sale, but that dosen't change the fact that the shooter was already commiting a felony just by holding the gun, let alone seeking it out and buying it.
Gun control as an issue is dead for two reason: 1) We already have "gun control" but we simply don't have enough police or jail space to enforce existing law. If we had more police perhaps we could conduct random checks of the homes of convicted felons (not that that would be legal anyway) and arrest those who have contraband. 2). See number 1 - a law is only as effective as it is enforceable.
Sometimes bad things happen. Sometimes there is no amount of prior planning or preparation that could have prevented them. Pass laws all day - sometimes crazy people will do crazy things.
Cooper wrote that the shootings were "so awful as to defy credulity."
His usage is wrong.
The word "credulity" means a foolish willingness to believe, a tendency to believe too readily, gullibility.
As in: "By pushing a phony treatment on his patients, the unethical doctor took advantage of their credulity."
Cooper ought to have said "so awful as to defy belief."
Does the Atlantic need to hire an editor?
Gun control forces are in the best position they have ever been in, but elected officials know that gun control measures are the end of their days of influence. President Clinton credited the NRA and gun owners for the loss of control in Congress in 1996. When Emanuel and Holder came out with their statement regarding a few changes this administration would like to make on gun laws, the public disapproval was through the roof.
The simple fact of the matter is that most Americans are good law abiding citizens who want the right to protect their families with guns. As long as they out-number the criminals and those who daydream about a utopian society with no guns and no crime, gun control will go no further. I sleep well at night knowing this reality.