Sunday, December 23, 2012
The cost of safety
Charles
Krauthammer has a terrific piece on what it’s going to take to avoid future
Sandy Hook massacres. But it’s going to be hard – and require the loss of some
liberties. I could quibble with some of his assertions, such as whether it’s
really impossible to come up with a good gun-control package (see Hub Blog’s groundbreaking
KISS approach below). But he touches on all the right main points, including the issues of mental-health and an entertainment culture soaked in violence.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Ok, now I’m starting to get worried
The Celts lose to the Bucks – again. Sure, they were arguably in worse shape at this point last year. And, yeah, Avery Bradley is set to come back soon. He'll help. But it won't be enough. ... Hub Blog hopes Trader Danny has something up his sleeve. They need another big guy. Preferably a real Brute Squad type.
Friday, December 21, 2012
The gun-control debate has just hit rock bottom, Part II
The NRA calls for armed police in every school. … Since compulsory schooling was first adopted in America in 1647, not once has there been any serious attempt or call, as far
as I know, to put armed guards at every school across the Republic. Until
today. I assume this is going to be the new mantra of the conservative
movement/Republican Party moving forward.
Reiterating HB’s simple gun control idea: Ban the possession and sale of
semiautomatic and automatic rifles and long guns.* … Everything else would remain
legal: single-shot long and hand guns; bolt-action rifles; one-barrel, two-barrel
and pump-action shotguns; semiautomatic pistols; and revolvers. All these would
serve as fine and more than adequate self-defense and hunting weapons. Isn’t
that the main argument of gun supporters? … You also don’t have to get bogged
down in endless debates about what constitutes “assault” weapons, etc.
* I’d put a provision in there too about banning automatic pistols.
Definitions of semiautomatics and automatics are provided in the below post by Rick. Definitions of rifles and long arms are somewhat easy to work out via measuring barrel length, etc
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
The gun-control debate has just hit rock bottom
In the context of last week's shootings, someone’s now bemoaning Ralphie's lust for a BB
gun in A Christmas Story. ... Viewing the accompanying video, I
couldn't help but smile as Ralphie wards off the evil burglars crawling over
the backyard fence. What a classic flick. It will be playing 24 hours straight at Chez Fitz on Christmas.
Fyi: Not that anyone cares, I'm in favor of sensible gun controls -- but not an outright gun ban. An outright ban would raise clear constitutional issues -- and I don't mind some guns anyway. Since the definition of what is or isn't a "semiautomatic" weapon usually gums up the debate for most liberals, I'd simply focus on a ban on all semiautomatic and automatic rifles as well as automatic pistols. Everything else remains legal. Keep It Simple Stupid. But that ain't going to happen, making me a similarly unenthusiastic about gun control.
Update -- Here it comes: The debate and lectures over what constitutes a semiautomatic, etc., etc. Except I kind of brought it upon myself for not being very articulate above. Here's a helpful note from Rich, a reader, followed by my email response to him:
Rich to HB: "Actually, automatic weapons have been pretty much banned since 1934 and certainly since 1968.I'm not sure what 'debate' about definitions there are. A automatic weapon is one that keeps firing as long as the trigger is depressed.
"A semi-automatic weapon is one that fires one shot and only one shot each time the trigger is pulled, reloading the chamber from the attached magazine (as opposed to a revolver, which "reloads" by rotating in the next chamber of the revolver each time the trigger is pulled). What you believe an "automatic pistol" and "semi-automatic rifle" and "automatic rifle" are?"
HB to Rich - "I know the difference between semiautomatics and automatics, after spending many enjoyable sessions at firing ranges etc. But the problem is most liberals don't know the difference. They're generally ignorant when they debate guns, so they allow themselves to get sucked into that definitional debate without knowing what they're talking about. That's the point I was somewhat inarticulately trying to make about all the confusion over definitions. ... RE definition of automatic pistols: You just defined it, didn't you? A hand-held gun 'that keeps firing as long as the trigger is depressed.'"
Rich to HB: "Actually, automatic weapons have been pretty much banned since 1934 and certainly since 1968.I'm not sure what 'debate' about definitions there are. A automatic weapon is one that keeps firing as long as the trigger is depressed.
"A semi-automatic weapon is one that fires one shot and only one shot each time the trigger is pulled, reloading the chamber from the attached magazine (as opposed to a revolver, which "reloads" by rotating in the next chamber of the revolver each time the trigger is pulled). What you believe an "automatic pistol" and "semi-automatic rifle" and "automatic rifle" are?"
HB to Rich - "I know the difference between semiautomatics and automatics, after spending many enjoyable sessions at firing ranges etc. But the problem is most liberals don't know the difference. They're generally ignorant when they debate guns, so they allow themselves to get sucked into that definitional debate without knowing what they're talking about. That's the point I was somewhat inarticulately trying to make about all the confusion over definitions. ... RE definition of automatic pistols: You just defined it, didn't you? A hand-held gun 'that keeps firing as long as the trigger is depressed.'"
Sunday, December 16, 2012
'He was a very, very bright boy'
The Telegraph has an outstanding article on Adam Lanza, the
alleged mass killer of 26 people last week in Connecticut. If we’re going to avoid these types of tragedies moving forward, we better
start understanding that a solution, or at least a partial solution, is going
to require a three-pronged approach: 1.) Sensible gun control laws. 2.)
Heightened security awareness and procedures at schools and other
large-gathering places. 3.) More societal attention to the mental health of perpetrators and potential
perpetrators of these attacks.
The last point is what I’d like to see us spending more time on
moving forward, or at least as much time as possible moving forward, as opposed
to getting immediately bogged down in a typically politicized
post-shooting debate over gun control, which I happen to favor in a similarly unenthusiastic fashion.
Take a look at this heart-breaking video of what it’s like to
suffer from autism, which last week’s shooter may have suffered from. Then read this very moving piece by Rod Dreher about how his autistic son reacted after viewing the video. And then
read this from an anguished mom who has to deal with a son with violent
tendencies. I am NOT saying all those who suffer from autism, Asperger’s
Syndrome and other mental illnesses are violent by nature. But I am saying we,
as a country, have a long, pathetic and sad history in dealing with the mentally ill. To
see what I’m talking about, all you have to do is walk down a typical street in
Boston and view all the homeless people who desperately need help. Some of them
need financial assistance. But most of them need medical help. But what do we do? You
know what we do: Not much and not enough.
No matter what his diagnosis was before the attack, Adam Lanza
was an obviously very disturbed young man who needed much more help than he
apparently got and deserved.
Update - From the Globe: 'Link between autism and planned violence discounted.' OK. I'm no expert on this -- and certainly and specifically not an expert on autism. But the point remains: He suffered from some sort of mental illness, based on just about every pre-shooting account of his life that I've read. Let's find out more -- and do more.
Update - From the Globe: 'Link between autism and planned violence discounted.' OK. I'm no expert on this -- and certainly and specifically not an expert on autism. But the point remains: He suffered from some sort of mental illness, based on just about every pre-shooting account of his life that I've read. Let's find out more -- and do more.
