Isla Vista shooting lays bare gun control failures

Examiner – by Dave Workman

The aftermath of Friday night’s murder spree in California could provide a serious setback for gun prohibitionists now trying to pander Golden State-style laws around the country, including the so-called “universal background check” (UBC) that alleged killer Elliot Rodger passed to purchase three handguns legally at retail, a detail now appearing in Sunday’s updated report in the Seattle Times.  

This case proves that UBC mandates — the core of Initiative 594, the 18-page gun control measure facing Washington voters — are not capable of preventing mass killings. Nearly all recent mass shooters passed background checks, and Rodger passed them in California, a state with restrictive gun control laws.

Those checks didn’t count at all for three of his victims, who were stabbed to death in his apartment. The Daily Mail has considerable detail about the overall crime spree. Gun prohibitionists can’t blame guns for these deaths, but watch for them to include these slayings when they discuss “victims of gun violence.” It would not be surprising to also see this crime added to the list of “school shootings” simply because it occurred near the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The myth of magazine capacity limits as a preventive measure to crime was also destroyed. Rodger unleashed a barrage, with nothing more than 10-round magazines. He engaged in two separate gunfights with lawmen.

Gun prohibitionists, largely funded by anti-gun billionaire Michael Bloomberg and his $50 million so-called “grassroots” gun control effort dubbed “Everytown for Gun Safety,” may try to shift the discussion to the amount of ammunition someone can possess. The killer reportedly had multiple spare magazines for his three legally purchased, California background-check approved pistols, loaded with 400 rounds of ammunition.

Bloomberg’s “Everytown” message men may already be hard at work to change the narrative to limiting the number of spare magazines a person can own. While he was still New York’s mayor, Bloomberg launched his first attack on gun owners only hours after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, even before all the victims had been removed from the school.

Seattle Times readers are showing no sympathy for the self-centered alleged killer. Rodger’s pathetic final YouTube video, like his “manifesto” available for reading here, could become an example of the “Me Generation” at its extreme. People who have seen both products think they are chilling and disgusting.

As more details emerge about the narcissistic 22-year-old privileged son of a Hollywood assistant film director, Elliot Rodger is being described as “deranged.” Watch for gun prohibitionists to suggest mental health evaluations for all gun owners.

However anti-gunners try to exploit Isla Vista, expect them to shift focus away from the failure of California’s restrictive gun laws. These are the same laws — primarily with the UBC at their core — that anti-gunners want passed in other states. After Isla Vista, such laws might be considered fraudulent at best.

http://www.examiner.com/article/isla-vista-shooting-lays-bare-gun-control-failures-1