Press Misinformation
There's a lot of wild-eyed, sputtering anger on display in this thread, most of it misdirected at the news media reporting on the Tucson shooting. In fact, the mainstream media coverage has been admirably neutral on the subject of gun control: NBC and the New York Times do not initiate bans on assault weapons or high-capacity magazines. Blaming them for the public disgust over events like this, and raising bitter hell because they use terms like "clip" or because they can't pin down the exact number of cartridges in an extended Glock magazine makes 2d Amendment supporters look like a bunch of yahoos. Calls for giving handguns to everybody as a way to prevent such mass killings makes us look like a bunch of dangerous, delusional yahoos.
The classic no-compromise, "pry them from my cold, dead hands" attitude is easy, and it makes for great bumper stickers. But eventually the timid majority is going to rise up, put unbearable pressure on politicians, and stick that attitude down our throats. People who really care about preserving the right to keep and bear arms had better start thinking of smart ways to help prevent the misuse of firearms. Otherwise, radical solutions that they are really going to hate will be forced upon them.
