I want to claim that this echo of Weber (who said “Today … we have to say that a state is a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory”) is utterly inapt in gun control debates, at least such debates in a Western country.
To begin with, note that, read literally, my friend’s proposal is not “old-fashioned.” It’s not new-fashioned. It has never been the fashion in any jurisdiction in America.
I want to claim that this echo of Weber (who said “Today … we have to say that a state is a human community that (successfully) claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical force within a given territory”) is utterly inapt in gun control debates, at least such debates in a Western country.
To begin with, note that, read literally, my friend’s proposal is not “old-fashioned.” It’s not new-fashioned. It has never been the fashion in any jurisdiction in America.
Peggy Noonan wonders (sorry, the Journal doesn’t seem to believe in permalinks for current articles):
The last testament Cho sent to NBC seemed more clear evidence of mental illness–posing with his pistols, big tough gangsta gonna take you out. What is it evidence of when NBC News, a great pillar of the mainstream media, runs the videos and pictures on the nightly news? Brian Williams introduced the Cho collection as “what can only be described as a multi-media manifesto.” But it can be described in other ways. “The self-serving meanderings of a crazy, self-indulgent narcissist” is one. But if you called it that, you couldn’t lead with it. You couldn’t rationalize the decision.
Such pictures are inspiring to the unstable. The minute you saw them, you probably thought what I did: We’ll be seeing more of that.
I hope that this puts to rest any insanity about nominating Alberto Gonzales to the Supreme Court. If they are going to have an Hispanic affirmative action nominee, he should at least display some level of intelligence and competence.
Amidst the discussion about whether or not professors are capable of protecting their students with guns, we have the example of one professor who saved his students without one.
Boris Johnson says that it’s time for England to reconquer France (“reconquer”? Is he referring to Waterloo?).
A couple months ago, I’d have thought it a trivial exercise, what with the several reverse speeds on the French tanks and all, but with the wimpy performance by the Royal Navy in the Shatt al Arab and the ensuing response from Whitehall, it’s not clear who would win the rush to surrender.
Eugene Volokh (who I’m given to understand has a pretty tight pattern at the range) asks “why not at least arm the professors who want to be“? The argument is, as usual, comprehensive.
[Update a few minutes later]
Best comment so far: “You really want to arm Ward Churchill?”
Here’s the kind of question that a supposedly objective press would ask:
The quote from Senator Reid that Kathryn quotes below is especially peculiar given that Reid himself voted in favor of the bill the Court upheld today. So he wishes O’Connor could have still been there to overturn the law he supported?
Sounds almost like George Bush on campaign finance.
[Update at 8 PM EDT]
Jacob Sullum has more thoughts on “gun-free zones:”
Cho used two handguns, a .22 and a 9mm, neither of them especially powerful or exotic. Contrary to the false promises of gun controllers, firearms cannot be neatly sorted into “good” and “evil” categories; any weapon that can be used for self-defense (or for hunting) also can be used to murder people. A gun’s specific features matter even less if the victims are unarmed.
“We can’t have an armed guard in front of every classroom every day of the year,” Virginia Tech campus police chief Wendell Flinchum said after the shootings. Given the reality that police cannot be everywhere, it is unconscionable to disarm people who want to defend themselves.