So however much some people might yearn for gun control, it seems unlikely that it would have prevented Cho from achieving his ends. He had substitutes available, he had more than one means available to achieve his ends, and he plotted long enough to hit upon other means — especially since those other means are described in detail on TV, in the newspapers, and on the internet every day.

Scott A. Kjar
May 2, 2007
Why Economists Tend to Oppose Gun Control Laws
[With the doors chained shut even a crude sword would have been a sufficient substitute against the victims disarmed by the bigoted politicians. And as others (Was it Ry? Or was it son James?) have pointed out, “You don’t have to reload your edged weapon.” A few gallons of gasoline and a book of matches would have been rather effective in that environment as well.–Joe]

Les Baer Custom is Illinois’ garbage. Assault weapons manufacturers in Illinois are getting kicked to the curb. And for good reason.

Leah Woodward
April 30, 2007
Executive director of Iowans for the Prevention of Gun Violence
LeClaire council holds off vote on Les Baer Custom Inc.
[Bigots. Imagine the uproar if it were blacks or gays moving out of a place where the laws were hostile to them and at the proposed destination people called them garbage.–Joe]

Gun control is for sissies.

Tommi Avicolli Mecca
Beyond Chron April 24‚ 2007
[He is being sarcastic but I like to take the one line seriously. It’s this sort of behavior that is conformation that we are winning. He doesn’t even attempt to engage in an intellectual debate.–Joe]

If more gun control doesn’t mitigate crime, then what does it do? Look no further than any authoritarian state or society in history. Look no further than our own Southern backyard under the Jim Crow laws — laws that in many states still had a significant presence only 50 years ago. What was one of the first things these laws did to Southern blacks? They took their guns away. In a society where even the authorities were complacent with lynching and other hate crimes, whom else could a law-abiding citizen turn to for defense against a frequently racist government and society than himself? As in many other instances of the past, gun control was used to oppress people, to remove checks and balances on despicable government policies and, in short, to do what it implies: control.

David Lapidus
April 24, 2007
Gun control unfair to law-abiding citizens
The Badger Herald

All the gun laws in the world wouldn’t have stopped a lunatic like Cho Seung-Hui.

Brad Bumsted
April 23, 2007
Extreme Gun Control
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
[This is from an article that implies more gun control would be a good thing. You didn’t hear this sort of thing from anti-gun people after Columbine. We have made a lot of progress.–Joe]

You can say that one gun on campus is one too many. But it is and always will be impossible to prevent a determined person with ill intent from smuggling one (or more) onto campus. The best defense against such people is to increase the number of armed good guys so that there is always someone nearby able to respond.

Union Leader
April 18, 2007
Guns on campus: One is one too few

George Mason, one of our unsung framers, responding to the question, “I ask, sir, what is a militia?”  Mason answered, “It is the whole people, except for a few public officials.”

George Mason

It’s hard to argue with the mayor when one looks at the cold hard facts: today’s murder rate is just 26% higher than it was when the gun ban was put in place in 1978, down from a peak of just 128% higher in 1991 before a nationwide decline in crime driven by demographics took hold. With results like that, I’m not sure D.C. can afford to have its gun violence “decreased” any further.

Mac Johnson
Court Rediscovers 2nd Amendment, Liberals Fear Other ‘Rights’ May Soon be Found
March 15, 2007
[And the D.C. bigots are appealing the overthrowing of their gun ban.–Joe]

What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.

Christopher Hitchens
October 30, 2003
Mommie Dearest in Slate
[Son James brought up this quote in a conversation we had this evening. While the quote in it’s original form was not about gun control the principle is sound in both domains. And it’s the concept is behind my Just One Question.–Joe]

…it’s completely legal almost everywhere for any gun owner to sell a firearm to anyone else without any background check at all. If you have a gun, you can sell it at a gun show, through the newspaper, or even online, without any sort of background check at all.

It’s currently legal to own weapons like the .50 caliber sniper rifle, weapons that no civilian should ever be allowed to have.

…

Murder isn’t legal– unless you’re in a state with a License to Murder law, and you can claim that you “felt threatened” before you pulled the trigger.

In 48 states, it’s completely legal to tote around a loaded firearm beneath your clothes.

…

And yet none of these people have broken the law. They’re getting away with it– but because our laws are so loose, they’re doing it completely and totally legally.

Gun Guys
April 6, 2007
Via email with the subject: “Gun Guys: Getting Away With Not Breaking the Law”
[I find it very telling that he has a problem with people getting away with not breaking the law. It reminds me of this quote by Ayn Rand.–Joe]

It was a day when men, recognizing the reality of evil, carried weapons that enabled them to stand in the gap for those being unjustly tormented and threatened. Virtually any man on the street could come to the aid of a victim like Clara.

That was then; this is now.

Bob Allen
April 4, 2007
How gun control trades life for death
[Clara is the woman killed in the CNN building yesterday.–Joe]

And you choose to be unarmed? To me, that just doesn’t make sense.

Nicki Stallard
Pink Pistols: The Gay Group That’s Getting Armed
Posted April 3, 2007
[Jeff Soyer, gay gun blogger at Alphecca, is quoted in this article as well.–Joe]