"Conservatives closed ranks around lax restrictions on private gun sales before the shelter in place order at Navy Yard had been lifted. Confirmed details were still scarce, but already we knew that the proper regulatory response to the incident was “nothing” and that suggesting otherwise was foolish and insensitive. "The arguments are depressingly familiar. Despite previous gun-related infractions, and a history of mental illness, Aaron Alexis had somehow cleared background checks pursuant to both his service in the Navy Reserve, from which he received a general discharge, and his work as a military contractor. So clearly universal background checks for private purchases wouldn’t do any good either, right? "This is about as fallacious as arguing that cars should be liberated from all future safety regulations because airbags sometimes fail. If there are problems with existing background check systems, then they should be improved and best practices carried forward into a universal background check system for private sector gun sales. Instead, we’re left with the system that allowed Alexis to legally purchase a shotgun in Virginia just last week. "His record paints a picture of a troubled individual who had several brushes with the law but none that crossed into felony conviction territory that would have prohibited him from buying a gun from a federally licensed gun dealer. "Although he recently began seeking mental health treatment through the Veteran’s Administration, seeking treatment and even having a diagnosed mental illness don’t disqualify someone from purchasing a gun. "Tighten the laws and the next Alexis is more likely to be thwarted or deterred. But the laws won’t be tightened. Instead, we’ll be left to process multiple mass shootings a year with rote expressions of outrage and dismay, and then to move on. "Now mass shootings are relatively rare, and it would be nonsensical for frustrated or frightened citizens to quit their jobs or home-school their kids simply because politicians have no intention of trying to stop them. But with little encumbrance to gun enthusiasts, the status quo could be improved. If fatal airline accidents became much more common in the U.S. than they are right now, or than they are in other countries, it would be bizarre for a political movement to rise up after each tragedy to shout down anyone demanding tougher FAA safety inspections. But that’s about where gun obsessives in this country are right now."
Posted on: Fri, 20 Sep 2013 04:00:02 +0000
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