There was a mass shooting in the municipal building of Virginia Beach, VA yesterday. Almost immediately, the usual statements started. The first thing I saw was a tweet from Chris Murphy, a Democrat senator from my state of CT, saying that this showed why it was irresponsible that the Senate hadn't taken up a bill for universal background checks. Then there were the normal denunciations of anyone opposed to gun control and the statements about how important the Second Amendment and the right to bear arms are. It seems as if many of the people making statements had written them in advance and were just waiting for the next event.
Here's the point, however:
1. The shooter was a long time city engineer. He would easily have passed a background check. Maybe he did; I don't know either way. A background check law would have had no effect on this shooting.
2. The shooter used a hand gun. A ban on any sort of assault weapons would have had no effect on this shooting.
3. The shooter was a black male aged 40 or so. He was almost certainly a Democrat although there is no party registration in Virginia. That's a guess, but as a black in Virginia, it's a pretty good one. In 2016, Hillary got roughly 95% of the black vote in that state. That means that the usual rants from the left about how mass shooters are right wingers won't fly.
4. It would be much more appropriate if those making comments would talk about what actually happened and if there is any way to prevent events like it rather than going to repeat the usual statements. Maybe in that case, someone would actually listen.
Here's the point, however:
1. The shooter was a long time city engineer. He would easily have passed a background check. Maybe he did; I don't know either way. A background check law would have had no effect on this shooting.
2. The shooter used a hand gun. A ban on any sort of assault weapons would have had no effect on this shooting.
3. The shooter was a black male aged 40 or so. He was almost certainly a Democrat although there is no party registration in Virginia. That's a guess, but as a black in Virginia, it's a pretty good one. In 2016, Hillary got roughly 95% of the black vote in that state. That means that the usual rants from the left about how mass shooters are right wingers won't fly.
4. It would be much more appropriate if those making comments would talk about what actually happened and if there is any way to prevent events like it rather than going to repeat the usual statements. Maybe in that case, someone would actually listen.
No comments:
Post a Comment