On the Virginia Shooting: What Not to Do

Virginia witnessed a thoroughly modern murder. A middle-aged man, described ubiquitously as “disgruntled,” shot dead two of his former colleagues while they were broadcasting a live segment for a local television news station. Subsequently, he posted a first-person video of the killings to both Twitter and Facebook, along with a brief explanation of his motives. After a tense car chase, he was surrounded, and he attempted to kill himself. He died a few hours later. The Left’s reaction to the story was Pavlovian. Having sought out the nearest camera, Virginia’s Governor Terry McAuliffe was quick to push for new laws. Because “there is too much gun violence in America,” McAuliffe suggested, the federal government must move to require background checks on all private sales. On Twitter, meanwhile, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton proposed vaguely that “we must act to stop gun violence, and we cannot wait any longer.” These responses, which echoed across media, were typically thoughtless and knee-jerk. Usually, architects of public policy wait to hear which problem they are being asked to solve before proposing a solution. When it comes to the Second Amendment, they fire up the cookie-cutter. Since the massacre at Sandy Hook rekindled their interest in more regulation, President Obama and the Democratic party have been hawking a three-pronged gun-control package. Under this regime, Americans in all states would be prohibited from obtaining any of the arbitrarily chosen rifles that have been deemed to be “assault weapons”; they would be restricted from purchasing magazines that hold more than ten rounds; and they would be obliged to undergo a background check when buying a gun from a private seller. When these measures have been installed, Americans are assured, they will be able to say “never again” in earnest.

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