Maybe the fact that the Sun carries this guy's syndicated column is one reason to read it:
Link to Baltimore Sun
Odd silence in the wake of shootings
By Steve Chapman
Originally published March 28, 2005
CHICAGO - Rain in Seattle is not news; the news is when rain fails to fall, as it has been doing lately. Likewise, what is conspicuous about the aftermath of the school shootings in Red Lake, Minn., last week was what didn't occur - a torrent of calls for new gun-control legislation.
The attack was the worst at a school since Columbine, six years ago. It came on the heels of some other publicized eruptions of gun violence - including a rampage by a defendant at an Atlanta courthouse and a mass shooting at a worship service in a Milwaukee suburb. In the past, any of these might have spurred gun-control advocates into a major push for action. But this time, not much has happened, and not much is likely to.
Why not? One simple reason is that Congress and the White House are both in the hands of Republicans, who generally aren't eager to impose restrictions on firearms. But maybe the Republicans are in power partly because of the new mood that has settled over the issue of gun violence.
It has become clear over the years that most of these spectacular episodes are so freakish that they are not amenable to regulatory solutions. It has also become clear that any imaginable gun-control laws are not likely to have much effect on crime in America.
Even the staunchest anti-gun organizations made only perfunctory efforts to capitalize on the Minnesota shootings. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence used the opportunity to criticize Congress for letting the federal "assault weapons" ban expire, mandating immediate destruction of the records of gun sales, and considering a bill to limit lawsuits against gun dealers.
But these had nothing to do with what happened in Red Lake. Records of gun sales? The killer, Jeff Weise, 16, wasn't old enough to legally buy a gun in Minnesota. At least two of his guns were stolen from his grandfather, a police officer whom he killed.
Assault weapons ban? His arsenal included no such weapons.
Limiting lawsuits against dealers? A bill that hasn't been enacted couldn't have caused a mass shooting yet.
But decrying America's love affair with guns is like decrying America's love affair with football or movies. There are some 260 million firearms in private hands in this country. Any solution requiring vast numbers of people to reject something they have long valued is not a solution but a fantasy.
Gun-control advocates have been losing ground with the public. In 1990, 78 percent of Americans said they thought laws on firearm sales should be stricter. By 2004, only 54 percent agreed.
Also, past experience with school shootings, horrific as they are, may have made people skeptical of overreaction. As it happens, this sort of mayhem is rare and getting rarer. Last year's annual federal report on school crime and safety notes that the number of kids killed at school dropped from 33 in the 1998-1999 school year to 14 in 2001-2002. Other violent crimes against students at school have also declined.
Common-sense security measures, such as limiting access to schools by outsiders, may help. But eliminating such shootings entirely is asking too much. Says Ronald Stephens, executive director of the California-based National School Safety Center, "It's very difficult to stop an incident like this unless you have an army standing at the door."
Most Americans have probably figured that out, and while they may be shocked and saddened by mass murder, they don't expect it to ever be eradicated. That sort of realism is no ally of gun control.
Steve Chapman is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune, a Tribune Publishing newspaper. His column appears Mondays and Wednesdays in The Sun.
Copyright © 2005, The Baltimore Sun
Link to Baltimore Sun
Odd silence in the wake of shootings
By Steve Chapman
Originally published March 28, 2005
CHICAGO - Rain in Seattle is not news; the news is when rain fails to fall, as it has been doing lately. Likewise, what is conspicuous about the aftermath of the school shootings in Red Lake, Minn., last week was what didn't occur - a torrent of calls for new gun-control legislation.
The attack was the worst at a school since Columbine, six years ago. It came on the heels of some other publicized eruptions of gun violence - including a rampage by a defendant at an Atlanta courthouse and a mass shooting at a worship service in a Milwaukee suburb. In the past, any of these might have spurred gun-control advocates into a major push for action. But this time, not much has happened, and not much is likely to.
Why not? One simple reason is that Congress and the White House are both in the hands of Republicans, who generally aren't eager to impose restrictions on firearms. But maybe the Republicans are in power partly because of the new mood that has settled over the issue of gun violence.
It has become clear over the years that most of these spectacular episodes are so freakish that they are not amenable to regulatory solutions. It has also become clear that any imaginable gun-control laws are not likely to have much effect on crime in America.
Even the staunchest anti-gun organizations made only perfunctory efforts to capitalize on the Minnesota shootings. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence used the opportunity to criticize Congress for letting the federal "assault weapons" ban expire, mandating immediate destruction of the records of gun sales, and considering a bill to limit lawsuits against gun dealers.
But these had nothing to do with what happened in Red Lake. Records of gun sales? The killer, Jeff Weise, 16, wasn't old enough to legally buy a gun in Minnesota. At least two of his guns were stolen from his grandfather, a police officer whom he killed.
Assault weapons ban? His arsenal included no such weapons.
Limiting lawsuits against dealers? A bill that hasn't been enacted couldn't have caused a mass shooting yet.
But decrying America's love affair with guns is like decrying America's love affair with football or movies. There are some 260 million firearms in private hands in this country. Any solution requiring vast numbers of people to reject something they have long valued is not a solution but a fantasy.
Gun-control advocates have been losing ground with the public. In 1990, 78 percent of Americans said they thought laws on firearm sales should be stricter. By 2004, only 54 percent agreed.
Also, past experience with school shootings, horrific as they are, may have made people skeptical of overreaction. As it happens, this sort of mayhem is rare and getting rarer. Last year's annual federal report on school crime and safety notes that the number of kids killed at school dropped from 33 in the 1998-1999 school year to 14 in 2001-2002. Other violent crimes against students at school have also declined.
Common-sense security measures, such as limiting access to schools by outsiders, may help. But eliminating such shootings entirely is asking too much. Says Ronald Stephens, executive director of the California-based National School Safety Center, "It's very difficult to stop an incident like this unless you have an army standing at the door."
Most Americans have probably figured that out, and while they may be shocked and saddened by mass murder, they don't expect it to ever be eradicated. That sort of realism is no ally of gun control.
Steve Chapman is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune, a Tribune Publishing newspaper. His column appears Mondays and Wednesdays in The Sun.
Copyright © 2005, The Baltimore Sun