Thirty years have gone by, and still they cavort in the blood…

James Brady met with President Obama on the 30th anniversary of Hinckley’s failed attempt at assassinating President Reagan.

“I wouldn’t be here in this damn wheelchair if we had commonsense legislation,” Brady said Wednesday at a Capitol Hill news conference, joined by his wife, Sarah, and lawmakers in calling for gun control legislation. The Bradys head the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

…

The Bradys were joined on Capitol Hill by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., who have introduced bills to ban the kinds of large-capacity assault clips used in the January attack in Tucson, Ariz., that killed six and wounded 13, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who’s recuperating from a bullet to the brain.

Common sense legislation? Why, common sense is one of Weer’d Beard‘s favorite things!

Like, say, outlawing large-capacity assault clips?

Well, Hinckley used a .22 caliber six-shot revolver.

Like the Brady Bill?

Well, Hinckley lied on his forms when he bought the revolver he used on Reagan; that was a felony then, and it is a felony now. Wikipedia doesn’t say that Hinckley had ever been adjudicated mentally incompetent, so he wouldn’t have been disqualified by that condition; from what I can tell, he wouldn’t have been disqualified by any of the seven provisions of the Brady Bill.

Then surely like the ’94 Assault Weapons Ban? It’s expired now, but renewing would definitely be common sense, right?

Well, “It was also noted that should it be renewed, the ban’s effects on gun violence would likely be small at best and perhaps too small for reliable measurement due to assault weapons rarely being used in gun crimes even before the ban.”

For that matter, the Columbine massacre occurred right in the middle of the ban’s lifetime, and yet the ban did nothing; “The two perpetrators committed numerous felony violations of state and federal law, including the National Firearms Act and the Gun Control Act of 1968, even before the massacre began.”

Look, I understand that James Brady is pissed about getting shot, and that he and his wife still hate Hinckley for the havoc he wrought upon their lives.

That doesn’t change the fact that what Hinckley was doing was already illegal.

Hinckely committed a felony when he bought his revolver, just like Loughner committed a felony when he lied on his Form 4473 and bought his pistol. They then committed more felonies when they attempted murder/committed murder. Harris and Klebold committed several felonies before even getting started on their rampage.

If someone is dead set on murder, mayhem, or misanthropism, passing a law isn’t going to stop them; even without guns, men have been ever creative in their methods for killing each other.

Banning guns won’t stop the violence; it didn’t work in Japan or China, and it won’t work here.

Tags: Arizona, assassination, AWB, blood dancing, Brady Bill, Brady Campain, Columbine, common sense, Form 4473, GCA '68, gun control, gun law, Loughner, NFA, Obama, Reagan