On the heels of a mass shooting rampage in Canada, a nation with some of the strictest gun laws in the hemisphere—laws the gun prohibition lobby would like this country to emulate, were it not for the pesky Second Amendment—Biden’s gun control agenda is unlikely to win any converts in the firearms community, and it will give U.S. gun owners plenty to think about as November draws closer.

Dave Workman
April 21, 2020
Biden Website Reveals Alarming Gun Control Agenda
[Workman leaves it a little bit ambiguous on a minor point. There is a difference between “plenty” of evidence to think about and the amount of time given to thought about Biden as President of the U.S.

Biden’s mental faculties have been degrading at an alarming rate. I wouldn’t be surprised to see live appearances halted before November to avoid the instances of him talking to lamp posts, nibbling on tree branches, and inviting children to rub the hair on his legs.

His gun control agenda is extremely problematic but knowing, should he become the President elect, he is likely to be unable to repeat the oath of office* by the end of January is going be of greater concern.—Joe]

* As if the oath has been of any importance to any of the presidents in the last 200 years.

After we come out of this pandemic, the stockpiling of food and water is likely to go up. There could be more anxiety about times when such essentials are unobtainable or difficult to get, and there will be an understanding that if that time occurs, there will be desperate people who might be dangerous. Protecting yourself and your loved ones might then be necessary. It could be better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

Trevor Burrus
April 15, 2020
COVID-19 could change the gun control debate for a generation
[“Could”.

I suppose that true. And Justice Ginsberg could decide the 2nd Amendment means what it says. But that’s not the way to bet.

I see COVID-19 giving us a another 5% points in elections for maybe three to five years. That might be enough to get enough judges in the courts to make the difference between winning and losing. But it’s still a close call.

I’m still sending lots of money to SAF and FPC to keep those lawsuits going because the game is still a long, long way from being over.

H/T to Stranger for the pointer.—Joe]

Gun control regulations are an interesting thing. Public opinion in support of them tends to spike any time there is a major incident or a mass shooting of some sort. And if schools aren’t in session, if people aren’t having large meetings in churches and in shopping malls and concerts and all these other places, then we’re not having mass shootings.

Elizabeth Simas
Political science professor at the University of Houston
April 13, 2020
Gun Safety Groups Face Uphill Battle In Face Of COVID-19
[Interesting observation!

This reminds me of something I said over seven years ago (The necessity of an accurate problem statement):

What’s an orthogonal solution? In the case of the school shootings a solution to “ban guns” versus “good guys with guns” an orthogonal solution would be to “ban schools”. For example if children were to be taught online supervised by their parents or in much small groups there wouldn’t be such large groups of tempting, nearly helpless, targets.

….

In the case of school shootings examine the following problem statements, somewhat exaggerated to make the point:

• There are too many guns brought to schools.
• Good guys are prohibited from protecting themselves and our children at schools.
• An unacceptably high number of children at schools are being injured and killed by people with guns and other weapons.

Depending on the choice of problem statement the range of solutions are completely different. And there may be other problem statements beyond what I have enumerated above. Defining the problem correctly is frequently more difficult than finding solutions.

“Thanks” to the pandemic we may be approaching the orthogonal solution to school shootings I suggested years ago.—Joe]