Arms Control

A press release came across my desk today about the NRA electing Delaware native John Sigler as their new president. When I did a Google news search, this story about the NRA and the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence popped up. Apparently they agree that mental health records should be standard in a background check (after the Virginia Tech shooting, it's hard to argue with that point).

What's always disturbing to me is that members of the NRA have almost entirely too much faith in the average citizen with a gun. Their executive vice president (apparently they have two VPs) Wayne LaPierre said, "If you look at these cases, these bad guys have only been stopped by a good guy with a gun, or by turning the gun on themselves."

Who is this superhero with a gun? Forgive me, but this sounds like comic book idealism, but studies show that a gun in the home actually increases the level of violence. As I've said before, I'm not an absolutist on arms control, but I do recognize that guns are weapons -- dangerous weapons that are likely to be used as such.