AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Anti-gun politicians have a standard script they tend to follow in the wake of a mass shooting. It seems that no matter what gun control bill they’re advancing, that is the key to averting the mass shooting. It doesn’t matter if the killer used a handgun, and the bill in question only impacts AR-15s, the bill is the answer.

Every time.

A prime example can be found in the wake of the Virginia Beach shooting last week. It seems Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NJ) knows just what bill would prevent the next Virginia Beach.

We are nearly 100 days since @HouseJudiciary passed #HR8, the universal background checks bill, in the House and today there has been another mass shooting in America. Thoughts and prayers are not enough, we need action now! #EnoughIsEnough #EndGunViolence https://t.co/jKH0wKl28R

— Rep. Nadler (@RepJerryNadler) May 31, 2019

The problem?

The Virginia Beach killer purchased his .45 caliber handguns legally. There’s no evidence to suggest such a regulation would have had any impact on the killer. There’s ample evidence to believe it wouldn’t have had any.

The shooter purchased the guns some time back, one in 2016 and one in 2018. There’s been no mention of anything in the killer’s background before those dates that would have prevented him from passing a NICS background check or any other background check for that matter.

Further, there’s no indication that any of the other measures being talked about would have helped, either.

Gun rationing wouldn’t have helped since the shooter purchased the guns almost two years apart. Registration would have been useless since the weapons were legally held, which implies they’d have likely been registered.

Thus far, we don’t know any actions that might even remotely have an impact on this atrocity.

That doesn’t stop people like Nadler from bringing up their pet legislation and using the tragedy to advance their political agenda. People like him speak as if they care about the dead, but what they really care about is if there are enough bodies to make an effective soapbox.

It’s not about lives to them, but legislation. Unless Nadler is a complete and total moron–a fact I’m not willing to rule out completely–he knows there’s not any information to suggest that HR8 would have made any difference in this shooting. None whatsoever. He just hopes that the voters are too freaking stupid to catch this fact.

Unfortunately, I’m sure that far too many people won’t catch it, and Nadler will continue to get away with it.

Look, I get the desire to talk about possible solutions. I also understand that for some, such a discussion is going to revolve around gun control. What would be nice, however, is if the discussions about gun control at least reflected the reality of the situation at hand. Right now, we have Nadler going on about universal background checks, much like every other mass shooting when universal background checks are invoked, only for us to learn the killer passed a background check in the first place.

If you want to talk about potential solutions, you’d think those that favor gun control would at least be willing to discuss other options for answers. If it was about finding solutions, wouldn’t they be open to any solution?

Instead, we get people like Nadler prattling on about “solutions” that wouldn’t have done a damn thing.

Par for the course, really.