Will alleged assassination plan change views on gun control?

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

If you’ve never heard of the site Jezebel, count yourself lucky. It’s a leftist site that couches itself as some kind of feminist brand but really just cranks out progressive content like so many other sites out there.

Advertisement

So them being fans of gun control shouldn’t be surprising.

What was amusing is a piece they have titled, “Republicans Will Definitely Support Gun Control After an Armed Man Threatened Brett Kavanaugh—Right??”

U.S. marshals arrested an armed man near Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home early Wednesday, per the Washington Post. Sources told the Post that the man is from California and traveled to Chevy Chase, Maryland, before he was arrested on a street close to Kavanaugh’s home. The suspect was allegedly carrying a gun, a knife, and “burglary tools” when he was arrested just before 2 am. The arrest came after he reportedly told officers that he wanted to kill Kavanaugh. Local police are working with the FBI but the Post said that the man was upset about the impending fall of Roe v. Wade and recent mass shootings.

The New York Times identified the suspect as 26-year-old Nicholas John Roske, 26, of Simi Valley, California, and said he was charged with attempted murder. Per the affidavit, Roske himself called 911 and said he was having suicidal thoughts and had a gun in his suitcase. Roske also “indicated that he believed the justice that he intended to kill would side with Second Amendment decisions that would loosen gun control laws.” Roske allegedly planned to break in, murder the justice, then kill himself. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in federal prison.

Reasonable people are probably wondering how someone apparently so disturbed that he traveled across the country to try to kill a Supreme Court justice was able to own a gun. Seems like something our lawmakers should address through, say, strengthening background checks and implementing red flag laws!

Advertisement

It should be noted that at no point does the author actually say anything about how Roske’s plan was not the way to deal with political disagreements, for what it’s worth.

In fact, all she seems to do is pretend this is all the Republicans’ fault.

But would something like this change our views on gun control? Of course not. Why would it?

You see, questions like those in the title are predicated on the idea that we actually do think gun control works, but oppose it for various and nefarious reasons, such as wanting black people or kids to be shot in job lots. They cannot fathom the possibility that maybe, just maybe, we actually don’t think it works.

Especially since there are laws on the books now that could have prevented Roske from getting as close as he did to carrying out his plan.

I mean, California already has universal background checks and red flag laws. Just how would a federal law for either of these things make any difference when no one in California exercised those options? I mean, I doubt a motel clerk in Missouri (or wherever he may have stopped) got to know him well enough to know something was up.

Advertisement

So please, tell me how those gun control proposals would have done a damn thing? I’m waiting for an explanation, though I know one isn’t going to come.

After all, that would involve folks doing more than espousing gun control platitudes for five minutes and thinking critically about what just happened. Figure the odds of that happening.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member