Gun Control Irony Alert

Under the provocative headline “The Thugs Win the Case,” WaPo columnist Colbert King sniffs of the Supreme Court’s ruling yesterday in Heller,

There’s one group of District residents absolutely unfazed by today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling shooting down the District’s strict handgun ban: the dudes who have been blowing away their fellow citizens with abandon since the law was put on the books 32 years ago.

But, surely, these dudes were not in fact doing any such thing, what with it being illegal to have guns and all? Not to mention it being illegal to blow away one’s fellow citizens, which I understand was not affected by yesterday’s ruling?

Otherwise, it’s hard to see how yesterday’s ruling affected anyone but the targets of said thugs, law-abiding fellow citizens of the District who were unable to own handguns and had to keep rifles and shotguns in a state that rendered them completely useless if their homes were invaded.

FILED UNDER: Guns and Gun Control, Supreme Court, Uncategorized,
James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. John says:

    As Buggs Bunny would say, “What a maroon!”

  2. Bithead says:

    Perhaps were the anti-gun types to explain to us how ‘gun free zones’ have prevented thugs from using guns inside them in places like Virginia Tech and so on, they might actually have a case.
    As it is virginia tech has a memorial to remind us of the victims of the gun free policy.

  3. Boyd says:

    Eleanor Holmes Norton tells me that they’ll have blood running in the streets of DC as a result of this ruling. I wonder how long it’ll be for that effect to come about?

    I mean, y’know, she can’t be wrong about it or anything like that.

  4. davod says:

    “Eleanor Holmes Norton tells me that they’ll have blood running in the streets of DC as a result of this ruling. I wonder how long it’ll be for that effect to come about?”

    What a silly nanny goat. Mayor Fenty said specifically that the rulling means guns in the home, not in the street. No carrying guns in the street.

    Just as the Chief of Police’s declaration that our gang’s will henceforth be called Crews, has lessened the amount of gang crime in the District, Fenty’s proclamation of no guns in the street will mean a lessening of gun deaths, because, at the moment, so many gun deaths occur in the street.

  5. Michael says:

    Perhaps were the anti-gun types to explain to us how ‘gun free zones’ have prevented thugs from using guns inside them in places like Virginia Tech and so on, they might actually have a case.

    I don’t think the gun-free zones were ever intended to stop somebody who was intent on using his guns in those zones. It was meant to stop those people who may decide to use their weapon on impulse, because it is conveniently available.

    It’s like they say about door locks, they don’t keep bad people out, they just keep good people honest.

    (Please note: I’m not taking a position on whether such zones are good or bad, effective or not.)

  6. c. wagener says:

    It’s like they say about door locks, they don’t keep bad people out, they just keep good people honest.

    How can someone be considered good if the only reason they’re honest is because they’re forced into it?

  7. Bithead says:

    I don’t think the gun-free zones were ever intended to stop somebody who was intent on using his guns in those zones. It was meant to stop those people who may decide to use their weapon on impulse, because it is conveniently available.

    …. even in defense. And we now understand the consequences of that non-thinking.

  8. Bithead says:

    How can someone be considered good if the only reason they’re honest is because they’re forced into it?

    Wasn’t it Frost who suggested good fences make good neighbors?

  9. Eneils Bailey says:

    Wasn’t it Frost who suggested good fences make good neighbors?

    And that is the point of this debate; it is not about a hunk of metal you hold in your hand. It is about your right to feel safe and secure, establish limits to violent personal intrusion, and give you the peace of mind that you are not a completely helpless human being.

    The greatest intrusion I feel comes from the government.

    “All political power comes from the barrel of a gun. The Communist Party must command all the guns, that way, no guns can ever be used to command the party.” Mao Tse Tung.(1938)

    “The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms.” Adolf Hitler. (1942)

    Sounds like our present-day democrats and liberals.

  10. Set unfazers to stun.

  11. Eneils Bailey says:

    I have a friend who is a local County Deputy who I once engaged in a conversation about self-protection and the confusion that Federal laws presents.

    We discussed the current philosophy of calling “911” when you are awakened in the middle of the night and having them tell you “go run to a closet and hide.” If you stand your ground and defend your rights you may get charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Excuse me, I am going to grab my 12 gauge shotgun and 1911 45 Caliber ACP and stand my ground. I have been shot at before and a couple of dope-using, mentally deficient, social misfits does not diminish my desire or ability to defend my rights.

    The bottom line:
    I had rather walk out of a court room after being judged by twelve of my peers than be carried out of Church by eight of my friends.

  12. Michael says:

    How can someone be considered good if the only reason they’re honest is because they’re forced into it?

    The point is not to tempt them by making it easy to be dishonest.

    If you stand your ground and defend your rights you may get charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

    Not here in Florida, you don’t even have to try and get away from them first.

  13. joe says:

    Citizens running around with guns to protect themselves may not be the best cause of action, but paranoia rules on either side of this issue. The NRA side thinks government is banning guns in order to rule its citizenry with an iron hand, and the other side thinks the gun nuts want to storm the White House. This has to stop, otherwise gun laws will be insane and unenforceable.