Gun lust

Glenn Reynolds was quick on the draw with this analysis of the Virginia Tech shootings --

These things do seem to take place in locations where it's not legal for people with carry permits to carry guns, though, and I believe that's the case where the Virginia Tech campus is concerned. I certainly wish that someone had been in a position to shoot this guy at the outset ... And reader John Lucas, who works with a Virginia law firm, emails that Va. Tech is a "gun-free zone." Well, for those who follow the law. There was an effort to change that but it failed: "A bill that would have given college students and employees the right to carry handguns on campus died with nary a shot being fired in the General Assembly." That's unfortunate. [sentence added later] Had the bill passed, things might have turned out differently, though we'll never know now.

It's not clear which is more pathetic: his assumption that any bad guys would be taken out in a single shot without any crossfire when everyone pulls their weapons at the first sign of trouble, or the assumption that the bad guys wouldn't simply change their tactics knowing that other people might carry guns. Such as by getting bigger guns.

Untroubled by such logical concerns, Reynolds quickly resumed normal service with a light-hearted post making fun of John Kerry. Incidentally, George W. Bush hosted an event last October on prevention of mass shootings in schools, in which gun control was not on the agenda. But church-state separation was.