Democracy for Vancouver

There’s a lot of symptomatic nuttiness in this tale of yet another gun-nut nearly run amok.

MIAMI (AP) - A 20-year-old with a weapons cache that included four AK-47s was arrested after threatening over the Internet to undertake a Virginia Tech-style massacre, authorities said Thursday.

Oregon authorities learned of a March 25 Internet message allegedly posted by Calin Chi Wong in which he threatened to re-enact the Virginia Tech killings. Two days later, Homestead Police searched the home Wong shares with his parents and found the weapons in stacked on shelves in plain view, Detective Antonio Aquino said.

Wong had 13 firearms in all, more than 5,000 rounds of ammunition, some that could pierce armor, and 100 rounds in a feeding clip with bullets “meant to take down aircraft or military machinery,” Aquino said. He had hidden two AK-47s in his parents’ closet, and his parents said the guns did not belong to them, Aquino said.

But embedded in this story and it’s hopefully averted trauma is a dumb argument that keeps coming up:

Wong said the weapons were an investment.

“He says it’s a lucrative business,” Aquino said. “He said if Hillary Clinton wins she’ll put a ban on assault rifles, and these assault rifles will be worth more in value.”

Gun laws in this country have loopholes that you could fly a C-130 through. I remember when in my gun-nut youth how easy it was to buy even military-style weapons. And in Washington, there’s really nothing preventing (at least in the mid-eighties) me from selling handguns to anyone.
I personally am pretty pragmatic about the complete control of firearms; we’re way too much of a libertarian society in this regard for better or for worse. But to continually argue against any background check or regulation of any kind if foolish. Most anti-control arguments don’t hold much water. We are also safe from another invasion by the British. And as for unrestricted gun ownership being some kind of bulwark against tyranny, I’d channel Dr. Phil and ask “How’s that workin’ out for you?” Our government is being bought and sold by big corporations without firing a shot, but people are too busy playing Call To Duty to notice. If our government wanted to fend off a counter-insurgency of pissed off citizenry, they have weapons that could melt you in your shoes. I don’t think a Mossberg pump shotgun or any other permissible weapon would do much good. But people will vote for the biggest corporate whore because - ironically enough - the opposing party supposedly has a brand identity that is against gun ownership. I recently had a conversation with a young man who - even though he correctly identified the current administrations depredations on the Constitution - said he would vote for McCain simply because of the single issue of gun control - and the automatic association of Democrats with it.
So meanwhile, damaged individuals such as Mr. Chi Wong, Seung-Hui Cho, James Huberty, Charles Whitman can continue to pick people off.

But we still haven’t been invaded by the British and no stinkin librul wimmen’s gonna get mah gun!