Via Alphecca and Say Uncle this Washington Post editorial
repeats a lie from a previous editorial. I sometimes wonder if
they repeat these lies on purpose or if they are just
ignorant/careless/stupid:
As writer Jenny Price noted in a Dec. 25 op-ed in The Post, only 160 of
the 12,000 guns used to kill people every year are employed in
legitimate self-defense; guns in the home are used seven times more
often for homicide than for self-defense.
I corrected Ms. Price in my previous post. No need to do it again. This editorial goes on to the expected conclusion.
Political long shot that it may be, a national ban
on the general manufacture, sale and ownership of handguns ought be
enacted. It would not pacify kids or adults with violent tendencies,
and it might not curb general criminal activity markedly. But it might
well save thousands of lives. Handgun exceptions could be made for
federal, state and local law enforcement and military agencies;
collectors of antique firearms; federally licensed handgun sporting
clubs with certain safety procedures; security guard services; and
licensed dealers, importers or manufacturers that are determined to be
meeting those needs.
Such a bill was proposed more than a decade ago by Sen. John Chafee
(R-R.I.), who has since died. “I hear people say it’s a radical
proposal,” he said then. “Well, I think to have the current situation
is radical. No other country has anything like it.” He described
slaughter by handguns as killing in record numbers, threatening
education and pushing the high costs of education even higher. So
what’s new today?
I’ll answer that question. The data is even more
overwhelming than it was a decade ago–weapon restrictions do not save lives. They
divert resources that would be better spent elsewhere.
Now, editors at the Washington Post, answer Just One Question.
