Oh, fine, let's take break to get disgusted at conservatives.

[prog]

The meme that the victims were a bunch of mincing cowards too sissified by their liberal environment to attack the gunman bare-handed seems to be rapidly spreading through the other camp. See comments by John Derbyshire, Nathaniel Blake, and Rush Limbaugh (as paraphrased by derspatchel).

Of tangential interest is a striking thought-experiment by bradhicks of what would have happened had any of the students been armed. I have no personal experience with guns or their use, so I don't know how accurate or relevant this is, but it made me think. (Gun control is an issue I stand absolutely neutrally on, and no recent events have changed this.)

Comments

[radtea.livejournal.com]

the Montreal Ecole Polytechnique shootings happened under a very different gun-control regime.

As did the Dawson College shootings (also in Montreal) last year.

It seems to me very difficult to argue based on the statistics that gun control laws are a major factor in crime rates. The murder rate in Canada, for example, rose steadily through the 70's and 80's when the first gun laws were passed. On the other hand, it began dropping sharply in the early 90's, well before the long gun registry and associated licensing changes were implemented. On the gripping hand, I've never owned a gun, and I'm just as happy to know that people who do own them are required to be licensed and pass some basic safety tests.