Gaping Ignorance - Predictably, gun-ban

Gaping Ignorance - Predictably, gun-ban group Citizens for a Supine Safer Minnesota are trying to get everything they can out of the shootings last week at Rocori High School.

Truth, of course, is the first casualty, as it usually is when CSSM is involved.

How and why did this happen? The answers are, no doubt, complex. But, as a community, we must remember to ask why we allow our young people easy access to handguns? How do we accept the proliferation of lethal weapons in our communities?

Well, in the case of Jason McLaughlin, the answer is easy; his father was a Sheriff's Department deputy.

You know - the ones that CSSM knows are the only people we can trust with firearms.

One out of six Americans keeps a handgun in the home, many unlocked, some even loaded. A survey of Hennepin County residents showed that of families with children under age 16 and a gun in the home, a full one-third admitted to storing their weapon unlocked and, in some instances, loaded.

And stupidity is indeed no defense (although I'd love to see the raw number and methodology behind that survey.

Most families who keep a handgun in the home, do so for protection. But, according to medical research, guns in the home are more often used to kill a family member than to be used in self-defense [Journal of Trauma, 1998.] Clinging to the belief that a readily available handgun protects us, we place our children and communities at risk.

The "Journal of Trauma" "research" was deeply flawed, and didn't account for

• Acquaintances or family members of the shooter who were carrying out criminal acts (drug-dealer acquaintances, abusive spouses)
• Presence of drugs or alcohol in the home
• Criminal records of anyone in the home
• Firearms training
• Above all, the "research" didn't calculate the deterrent value of the handgun in homes with no drug, alcohol, mental illness or criminals in the home. But then, they never do.

The CSSM writer continues:

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that guns be removed from environments where children are present.

The AAoP is completely politically motivated.

What drives a child to murder his classmates? The answers are complex. But the simple truth is that access to a gun can turn a desperate situation into a tragedy.

Unmentioned; access to a gun can also avert or prevent tragedy, as it did in the Pearl, Mississippi school shooting.

If you're upset about yesterday's school shooting incident, contact Governor Tim Pawlenty and let him know that you've had enough! Once and for all we, the responsible adults, must protect out children by supporting sensible gun laws.

And which laws are they talking about?

CSSM's current stalking horse is the Minnesota Personal Protection Act - our "shall issue" law. But Jason McLaughlin was seven years away from being able to qualify for a permit; it's a safe bet he never will, now.

More as developments warrant.

Posted by Mitch at September 29, 2003 06:03 AM