Whenever a major crime takes place, liberals cannot help but politicize it. George Zimmerman’s killing of Trayvon Martin became an excuse for liberals to push against “Stand Your Ground” laws and, for some odd reason, voter ID. Jared Loughner’s shooting of Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ) turned into an excuse for the left to attack the “political tone” of the country in general and Sarah Palin in particular, despite the fact that Loughner was a leftist and an insane person.
Now, in the aftermath of James Holmes’ horrifying massacre of moviegoers in Aurora, Colorado, Democrats are pushing for gun control. This despite the fact that the theater in question was reportedly a gun-free zone.
Liberals were so eager to politicize the shooting that Good Morning America quickly ran a segment suggesting that a “Jim Holmes” was a member of a Colorado Tea Party, without any evidence other than the name “Jim Holmes” and the website of the Tea Party – no picture, no background information, no age, no nothing. But when that narrative fell apart, the media quickly turned to gun control as its point of leverage. Now, Democratic politicians have picked up the call.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) says that we need more gun control: “Let’s stop wasting time and start saving lives,” he tweeted. “Congress must prioritize a ban on high-capacity gun magazines.” This is asinine, given that mass shooters can either obtain high-capacity gun magazines illegally, or simply pop out the used magazine and put in a loaded one.
“Soothing words are nice,” said New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, “but maybe it’s time that the two people who want to be president of the United States stand up and tell us what they are going to do about it, because this is obviously a problem across the country.” Bloomberg placed security throughout the city at movie theaters – even though New York City has some of the heaviest gun control regulations in the country.
President Obama’s mouthpiece, Jay Carney, said on Friday, “The president believes that we need to take common-sense measures that protect Second Amendment rights of Americans, while ensuring that those who should not have guns under existing law do not get them.” Of course, President Obama has publicly pushed zero gun control legislation while in office.
The truth is that Democrats want to complain about gun control while avoiding implementation. They recognize that implementation of further gun control measures is politically unpalatable – Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) admitted as much today when she said on Fox News Sunday, “people haven’t rallied [around gun control],” and with the election coming up, “it’s a bad time to embrace a new subject.” This isn’t because Feinstein is a Second Amendment advocate. In fact, she explicitly said that the Holmes shooting wasn’t about “sick, demented individuals,” as Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) suggested; rather, said Feinstein, “people use these weapons because they can get them.”
When it comes right down to it, Democrats want to stump for gun control without weathering the political blowback. But when the time is right – after Obama’s possible re-election – they will push for it. And all they’ll need is another horrific event on which to hook their agenda.