Monday, December 17, 2012

It's not fair when the target needs more than one bullet

Robert VerBruggen at National Review's The Corner is in the running for the most sociopathic conservative reaction to the Newtown massacre. Here's his previous submission. Now today's:

I am doubtful that these reforms would do much to curb gun violence. An “assault weapon” fires at the same rate as an ordinary semiautomatic rifle, and the .223-caliber ammo in Lanza’s rifle is banned for deer hunting in some states on the grounds that it’s too weak. High-capacity magazines sometimes stop shootings by jamming, and shooters are often (though not always) able to change magazines without incident.

This is a masterpiece of faux concern and faux passivity. Larger magazines help stop spree killers because they might jam! Spree killers aren't even using the biggest bullets they could use! Taking together with his previous post, note the worldview that the environment under which citizens can -- to use the recent examples of where the decentralized network of spree killers has struck -- meet their elected representatives, go to school, church, or shop, should be determined in part by whatever minimizes the effort on the part of animal hunters.

UPDATE: More on this very strange person from Slate.