AP Photo/Steve Helber

Gun control proponents latch onto every mass shooting and use it to advance their anti-gun agenda. It doesn’t take long, either. We usually see them push gun control proposals on social media before the facts have even started coming in. They’ll tout “assault weapon” bans before we know what weapon was used, for example.

So it wasn’t surprising to see Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam jump all over the Virginia Beach shooting with such vehemence. It’s the way of his people, after all.

What is surprising is that he is willing to admit that none of the proposals being touted by him and others would have prevented the tragedy.

According to the Roanoke Times, Gov. Ralph Northam admitted his proposed gun plan would not have stopped the Virginia Beach shooting.

During a question and answer session Friday at the Virginia Boys State session at Radford University, Northam was questioned by a group of students who formed a mock goverment and debated how the shooting may have been prevented. The students reportedly decided that the shooting was more about mental health than about guns and challenged Gov. Northam on his proposed gun plan.

…

According to the Times, Northam eventually “conceded” to some degree that his proposals would not necessarily have prevented the shooting.

And, of course, they wouldn’t have. The killer had legally purchased his weapons and had a clean criminal record. There was nothing that would have prevented him from purchasing his firearms. I’d figured Northam knew as much, but this is confirming what we already knew.

So then, why push for laws that wouldn’t have prevented the tragedy? Like someone once said, “Never let a crisis go to waste.” That’s all this is. There was a shooting, and Northam isn’t willing to let the opportunity pass. That’s why he’s calling for a special legislative session to address the issue of gun control. He knows damn good and well that if he doesn’t force the issue quickly, he’ll miss his chance.

That’s it.

It’s not about stopping the next Virginia Beach. Northam knows none of these proposals will do that. No, it’s about buffing up his anti-gun credentials and making life difficult for law-abiding gun owners — nothing more, nothing less.

Northam’s admission, however, isn’t surprising for pro-gun activists. Anyone who looked critically at the proposals being talked about would have recognized that none of them would have stopped diddly. However, gun control fans tend not to look at these things critically. They see gun control and jump on it. They don’t care if it would have stopped the attack from happening.

If you force their hands, they’ll admit it wouldn’t have but then claim the measures would stop some number of other shootings, all without providing the least bit of evidence to support the claim.

Northam’s admission is surprising only in its honesty, though it won’t stop him from trying to cram gun control down Virginia’s throat. No, he’s never going to let a crisis go to waste.