We’ve all heard about the tragic and horrible killings at an elementary school in Connecticut carried out by a nutjob who also killed his mother, all the killings carried out using guns he stole from her. It turns out he’d actually tried to legally buy at least one gun prior to the event and was turned down by the appropriate authorities.
As predictably as the sun rising in the east, the “usual suspects” in the gun-banning crowd swoop
onto the still-warm corpses with opportunistic shrieks of glee at their good fortune in finding another excuse to try to somehow stop madmen from carrying out their deranged acts, evidently under the illusion that curtailing gun rights is a magic panacea for insanity.
Democrat Senators Joe Lieberman, Diane Feinstein, Chuckie Schumer (of course) and Dick Durbin, as well as New York Mayor Michael “Big Gulp” Bloomberg, have already taken the lead in exploiting this mess to advance their leftist/socialist agenda of banning guns, Feinstein vowing to introduce her same old, tired “assault weapon ban” yet again when the Senate reconvenes next year.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the fact-checker. It turns out that “mass shootings” aren’t exactly the rising phenomenon those zealots claim they are. In fact, according to criminologist James Allen Fox of Boston’s Northeastern University, who has been studying the subject since the 1980s, and Grant Duwe, a criminologist with the Minnesota Department of Corrections who has written a history of mass murders in America, there has been no increase in these incidents, and in fact “while mass shootings rose between the 1960s and the 1990s, they actually dropped in the 2000s.” ( Link )
Democrats have avoided gun control like the plague in recent years because they know it’s a political loser for them. I won’t go into all the stats; suffice it to say that the anti-gun sentiment in the country that peaked in about the 1970s has completely reversed itself in the last couple of decades. I think the only reasons these socialists are trying again now are twofold:
first, this is an especially terrible event, as it involved little kids. They’re hoping for an emotional backlash. And secondly, it’s a couple of years until the next election, and they’re banking on the electorate having a short memory. Of course, they’ve made that particular miscalculation with great regularity in the past. But then, the socialists definitely aren’t the brightest bulbs in the chandelier.
Another thing to bear in mind: the killer tried to buy a gun, and the current system worked. He was prevented from doing so, and had to steal the guns he used. So… what law, exactly, do the gun-haters think is going to “solve” this problem? Logically, the only thing that could work would be for all the guns in the country to magically vanish. How would that be accomplished?
Any law banning gun ownership is already deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the Heller and McDonald cases. Further, just a week ago 7th District Court Justice Posner held that Illinois’s total ban on public gun carry was also unconstitutional.
We’ve also had quite a bit of experience on the efficacy of bans in general. If “bans” were effective, we wouldn’t have a drug problem in this country, nor would there be any illegal aliens. How’s that been working out?
Let’s also not forget the mass murderer in Norway, Anders Breivik, who last year killed 77 people during his rampage, using a bomb to kill 8 and guns to kill 69 more, most of them young teens. Compared to this country Norway has very strict gun laws, and yet…
I think it’s funny – as in “hypocritical” – how so many on the Left are using this event as a vehicle to advance their gun control agenda while at the same time they’ve remained absolutely mute on Obama’s and Holder’s Operation Fast & Furious, the gun-running scheme which resulted in the deaths of over 300 Mexican citizens and one US Border Patrol agent named Brian Terry. That operation was very possibly conceived to gin up a case for arguing that our domestic gun laws were too lax, a political exercise in every way, and it backfired when they lost control of it. Where was the outrage then?
I guess “outrage” is very selective in nature.
© Brian Baker 2012
The View from the Island 
No truer words were ever spoken (i.e., “outrage” is very selective in nature), Brian, especially if the outrage is coming from a Liberal Democrat. But perhaps the only proven fact from this school shooting in Connecticut is that our school teachers should be armed (similar to what is done in Israel).
The laws worked. This nutjob was prevented from buying a gun recently. He had to steal the guns he used. And if he didn’t steal them from his mother, he could have stolen them from local law enforcement or bought them illegally on the street. But when seconds count, the police are minutes away.
What if the teachers had been armed? What if the school principal had a Glock in his coat pocket? This is what the Liberal Democrats REFUSE to admit. That an armed citizenry is the best line of defense that local law enforcement has.
Yeah, Gray, I couldn’t agree more. The socialists have to completely ignore all facts, empirical evidence, history, common sense, and our own observations of human nature to promote their idiocy, because the only thing they can use to try to rationalize their loony ideas is pure hyperbolic emotionalism.
THAT is exactly why I hold leftism in such utter contempt.
Indeed, BrianR, a crisis — even one manufactured — is a terrible thing to waste.
Yes indeedy. Saul Alinsky to the core.
Excellent post.
Whiel researching stats for an essay, I came across the fact that Sweden is SECOND in the world on reported rapes. NO ONE has guns there and they are overrun with Muslims. No guns ALWAYS equals MORE crime.
Yep, every single time.
Thanks, Gunny.
Solid piece. Spot-on down the line. The most IMPORTANT thing in this whole sad equation is the FACT that this clown had severe mental disorders,and NO ONE in the screaming meemees on the left will admit that. Connecticut recently shot down (intentional metaphor) a law allowing loonytoons like this Lanza guy was to be CONFINED for their safety as well as the general public. Leading the way? Funny you’d ask. The goddamned ACLU,of course. The ACLU and other libtards are directly responsible for more deaths than any RESPONSIBLE gun owners.
Thanks, Clyde.
Great points! Remember back when Reagan was Prez, they let all the loonies out of the bins? Something about their having the “right” to wander around in their lunatic state. Yep… ACLU.
American
Communist
Liars
Union
Brian,
Do you have even the remotest idea of what mental illness is or just how incredibly difficult it is to care for someone suffering from a condition such as schizophrenia or a severe personality disorder? Do you propose we simply lock up the “loonies” as you so charmingly put it? Are you suggesting that people who are mentally ill do not have rights or that the Constitution which you so admire does not apply to them?. Incidentally the phrase “let all the loonies out of the bins” was simply crass.
Simon
Crass? Who gives a damn? Not me.
And yeah, bubba, loonies don’t have the same rights as other people, just the same way they’re not held legally responsible for their actions like other people are. As soon as we stop allowing the “insanity defense” in criminal matters, I’ll be more than happy to rethink the issue. Until then, my comment and opinion stands as written.
CT is my home state. I lived about 12 minutes from where it happened and know it well. Gun control, of course, is not the issue. Why liberals are always seeing the small picture instead of the bigger visual is beyond me. Just another way to avoid fiscal cliffs and the fact that the President is still an epic failure. And his fake tears made me want to puke. I cannot relate to that man as President and certainly not as a parent.
The problem is that there is still the need for psychiatric hospitals, ones that are locked down. We have very few that anyone can afford. The problem is that the “Gorelick Wall” exists between the school psychologist and social workers who have an idea that people can be threats to themselves and others but can do nothing other than shove them into a system that isn’t working. What hospitals take psych patients? How many times must that psychiatrist call around for help and get none? How many health plans cover mental health, counseling or otherwise? I have a mentally ill family member. I must go to court to have her committed, if necessary. Counseling and psychiatric care are expensive. Not many accept insurance. 160 per hour and then when an episode happens…psychiatrist visits every day! Not to mention the meds and time lost at work because constant supervision is needed.
That mother had no recourse because no matter how much love and patience she had it would never have been enough. Why she didn’t have a gun safe is beyond my comprehension. It’s obvious that she didn’t really trust anyone to help her or she would still be alive.
May the fucking dems be blocked from doing anything that interferes with our Constitutional rights.
May God rest those big and little tiny souls and grant all of the the families peace.
“Why liberals are always seeing the small picture instead of the bigger visual is beyond me.”
Well, that’s why they’re liberals. Let’s face it: you can’t be a liberal if you apply true intellectual principles to issues. Their “solutions” defy any logic or valid reasoning, and ignore human nature and historical experience. They’re governed by emotionalism.
Great comment, Nee.
Need to pick your keen mind. Obama said today there will be “gun control” by January. My thought is he must be planning to issue an E.O. while the nutless wonders are on Christmas break. Would it hold water?
Hi, Clyde.
I’ve been out of pocket all day, so I don’t know what Bat Ears said. But there’s not much he can do by EO, and there’s no way the lame duck Congress can get anything done, even if the votes were there — which I’m sure are not there at all.
Unfortunately for The Annointed One, he’s merely the President, not Emperor.
BTW, from a legal standpoint, nothing he does during recess would have any force of law. He doesn’t get to legislate just because Congress is in recess.
Okay, I just read the story, and apparently he’s saying he’ll send proposals to the next Congress, which seats in January.
It’s gonna get lost in the budget fight. I really don’t see this going anywhere, especially as time passes. Plus, the majority of public opinion is strongly pro-gun.
Thanks for those thoughts. I sure as hell don’t trust this bozo at all. His “oath” he swore seems to have been printed on toilet paper.
LOL!
Yeah…
Just wanted to drop you a quick Merry Christmas. Hope your stockings are full of 100-round magazines,and a new “assault rifle” under the tree. And for the liberals,a big steaming pile of fly-laden hope and change,and a HUGE tax bill.
Ho, ho, ho, Clyde!
You are the man!
Merry Christmas, my friend.
Hey Brian:
Good point on the theft aspect of this tragedy . . . the most obvious and most overlooked element. I do not believe I have read even any conservative pundit taking note.
As to the mentally ill, Krauthammer the former psychiatrist wrote a good piece on it, recalling how as a psychiatrist he committed many people to confinement for their own safety and that of the public.
I wonder, too, if after we exhaust ourselves in our “national conversation” about guns, we can engage in a national conversation about the media. I cannot help but think that the prospect of infamy at least partially moves them. These self absorbed and uninteresting young men recognize that after they commit mass murder, the media will suddenly find them fascinating.
oh,
in the midst our disturbing public affairs, make the most of those private pleasures we experience with family and friends over the holiday season. Merry Christmas!
LOL!
You, too, my friend.
Hey RD.
Long time, no see. I hope all is well with you, and wish you a very politically incorrect Merry Christmas!
Great points. I just swung by your blog, and see you have a couple of truly excellent netries on the subject, too. Highly recommended for all. Click his name, or the link in my Blog Roll.
Seems every time the government has a program of either “You don’t need this” or “For your own good” we suffer.
A good example of each would be prohibition which was for our own good but left us with an organized underworld that still sucks our society and the automatic firearms ban which was because we didn’t need automatic firearms but with the passage of the FFAct the door was opened for ever morefirearms cassified as “We don’t need” weapons.
Whie every gun owning American is led to the whiping post any time there is some scumbag creating mass murder the government itself is without responsibility even though they knew beforehand that Fat & Furious would result in dead Mexican civilians probably, no, certainly planed on it as collateral damage ecause just telling American guns were showing up in Mexico, the attitude would’ve been, “So, what?” so there HAD to be dead innocents in order to whip up again the sentiment necessary to further ban guns from Americans.
The government (politicians) not only ignore the reasons behind the Second Amendment but do all they can to introduce other reasons than to be able to resist a government gone rogue.
Sentors Kerry and Clinton, in their POTUS bids, both stated they supported the Second Amendment beause they were avid duck hunters or sport shooters.
Really.
Does anyone actually believe that our founding fathers, after just throwing off the chains of a tyrannical government and founding a new concept of governmen and then designing restraints on the scope and reach of that government, do you think they would in their endeavors take a detour to protect something as mundane as recreational hunting or sport shooting?
Yep. Terrific comment.
The part about the anti-gunners always claiming they “support the Second Amendment” — and they ALWAYS make that claim — is especially telling.
If any of those socialists were to say what they REALLY thought — that they DON’T support the Second Amendment, that they think it’s outmoded and out of date, and that it should be ignored or repealed — they KNOW they’d never, ever win an election.
So they lie, plain and simple.
Gray Ghost, BR:
“That an armed citizenry is the best line of defense that local law enforcement has.”
This would be true except there is a considerable number of law enforcement that is on board with gun confiscation.
They probably believe that such a law would make their job easier, I don’t know.
That pretty much seems to be the “law enforcement” of the upper ranks, who are more politicians than cops, in my experience.
They come out with all kinds of screwy ideas.
One theory might be they, like the military, might rise through the ranks only if they have those screwy ideas.
Well, yeah. Above a certain rank, they’re political appointees, so they have to reflect the idiotic ideas of the hacks who appoint them. And in most of the big cities, that’s going to be some socialist moron.
>>”…[the Left are] evidently under the illusion that curtailing gun rights is a magic panacea for insanity.”
Great quote! And great post, Brian. Terrific point about Fast and Furious. I know you read Drpete’s post where he talked about the media’s lack of interest in the killingfest going on in Chicago. Seems there’s never a shortage of selective outrage among the Left. But of course, if the Left were consistent in their outrage it might lead to an examination of the leftist policies behind disasters like F&F and the mess in Chicago. We can’t have that, can we?
Thanks for the kind words, CW.
Yes, the Left is just full to the gills with selective outrage, seasoned liberally with sanctimony, then baked in hypocrisy until done. A tasty treat for mindless robots with no critical thinking skills who dig in with gusto.
This country’s in very deep kimchee.
Brian;
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours [and all those who read and post here also].
Remember about any of these anti-gun laws they want to pass, “it’s for the children.” What B. S.
These liberal fools want to gut the Second for their own ends.
BTW I met Chuck “where is the camera” down at our community center, during the Sandy hoopla.
TH is really bad can’t even get into my blog to read it.
Sorry have not been around to read or post, but you are soooo right [as usual]
BHO does not have to worry about getting elected again, so watch out.
Remember it’s all the fault of GWB, they called Ron teflon, hell he’s got nothing on this one.
Best to all
I hope you and yours had a great Holiday Season, too, Jev. It’s always kind of sad when it ends, and all the lights in the neighborhood come down for another year.
Thanks for the kind words, too.
Brian;
“The Republicans keep giving away core beliefs. They just throw away their ownership of the concept of lower taxes equaling economic growth and increased prosperity and freedom and liberty for people. They just threw that away, gave it to Obama.”
What crap, “Raising taxes on everybody normally would be horrible political news. It would be bad for the party that did it. But, no! According to the New York Times it’s a marvelous achievement for the Democrats and Obama, because they’ve taken ‘uncertainty’ off the table. People can now relax. It’s done and it’s fixed.”
“There are two kinds of rich people in this country. There are the income wealthy — and they have just had it socked to them — and then there are the really rich people, the asset wealthy, who didn’t even get touched in this deal. Warren Buffett will still pay a smaller income tax rate than his secretary, because Warren Buffett will not see a tax increase on his assets. Nor will Jeffrey Immelt at GE. Nor will any of the people who are asset wealthy in Hollywood.”
“Reagan fought the Democrats tooth and nail. Reagan was not a great compromiser. We don’t have anybody like Reagan in the Republican Party today.”
The PSP really [those in DC and the mainstream, the McLiberal types really suck big time, Bohner also.
Great point about the “asset wealthy”. Yeah, what do they care? It won’t hit them, and in the meantime they get to sound all noble and enlightened, as opposed to us poor working shmoes who actually have to foot the bills. If I had my money socked away in tax-sheltered bonds and depreciation schemes, I wouldn’t care much, either.
Pure hypocrites.
Brian;
The fiscal B.S., “We are saved! Did you not know it? We are saved! Taxes are going up on the 2%. There’s no more deficit. There are jobs for everybody, all the unemployed. Free health care for everybody. We are a utopia!”
“Obama raises the salaries of these politicians — who’d be fired if they were in the private sector — and raises the pay of government workers. He does all this whilst at the same time fighting with stubborn intransigence to take money away from American citizens. These are the people who worry about Big Oil and big corporations? Talk about greed! What is more greedy and more worrisome than big government?”
“In a sense, when we talk about the fiscal cliff, it’s ridiculous. The fiscal cliff is no more real than the Mayan apocalypse. It’s slightly more real in that you guys are gonna be just drowning in new taxes, but it is essentially a contrived date and an artificial drama. It’s a piece of theater.”
“We have a president whose highest priority isn’t the state of the American economy. It’s achieving the political goal of redistributing income and achieving the political goal of stomping the Republicans. That’s more important to Barack Obama than what’s in the best interest of the country that he has been reelected to lead.”
Of course! As I’ve always said, Bat Ears is a dies-in-the-wool Communist. A classic Marxist. This is all the same rhetoric used in 1917 by the Bolsheviks.
Brian;
They all love OPM “…That’s how the game is played. The entitlement culture means windstorms and floods now automatically trigger a claim on federal taxpayers to cover all costs, instantly and without scrutiny.”
Read more: Al Gore’s a hypocrite for selling his Current TV to Al Jazeera – NYPOST.com http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/that_hypocritic_al_OmXlYjbdheRGwq9ofkK1NL#ixzz2HFeL6bjg
Al is a real hypocrite just like all these big time liberals [Hollywood {ers} sports and the rest]
Oooooh, yeah…