Washington – The grim result of the nation’s deadliest shooting may stiffen the resolve of gun-control advocates but comes at a time when political and legal tides are running strong against further restrictions on gun ownership in America.
“I think there is very little chance of that,” said criminal-justice expert James B. Jacobs, when asked if the Virginia Tech killings could revive the gun-control movement.
“What is the gun-control proposal that would be put forward as a plausible preventative of an event like the current massacre in Virginia?” asked Jacobs, the director for the Center for Research in Crime and Justice at New York University.
Guns were already banned on the Virginia Tech campus and, according to initial reports, alleged killer Cho Seung-Hui purchased his Glock 9mm automatic pistol and ammunition from a Roanoke gun store as allowed by Virginia law, which requires identification and a quick background check but no waiting period. NBC News reported he purchased the .22-caliber handgun in February at a Blacksburg pawnshop.
The tragedy at Virginia Tech follows several well-publicized shootings that led President Bush to call a school-safety summit in 2006 – the Washington, D.C., sniper attacks of 2002 and the Columbine High School tragedy in 1999. All cast a spotlight on the issue, but none led to permanent change in America’s gun culture. Instead:
The public-favor ratings for the National Rifle Association are rising, crossing the 50 percent mark for the first time since 1994, according to a recent Pew Research Center poll. At the same time the percentage of people who believe that having a gun in the house makes a home safer has risen from 35 percent in 2000 to 47 percent in 2006.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit sided with the Bush administration and gun owners in March, declaring that Americans have an individual right to bear arms under the Constitution, thus setting the stage for a Supreme Court ruling on gun rights.
At the prompting of the NRA and the gun industry, Congress passed a landmark law in 2005 protecting firearms manufacturers from liability when their products are used in crimes. Meanwhile, a federal ban on assault weapons was allowed to expire.
The Democratic Party, which for more than three decades has welcomed gun-control advocates into its ranks, is striking a more neutral position and promoting NRA-endorsed candidates as it looks to Western and rural areas for votes.
Among the Democrats who knocked off Republican incumbents to help seize control of the Senate last fall were several gun- friendly candidates, including Montana Sen. Jon Tester, Pennsylvania Sen. Robert Casey and Virginia Sen. James Webb, who spurred headlines recently when an aide was arrested carrying a handgun into the U.S. Capitol.
As the disturbing details from Virginia became known Monday, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino responded to a question about whether the president would alter his policies on gun access by saying, “the president believes that there is a right for people to bear arms.” She added that the administration believes “in enforcing all the gun laws we have on the books” before adding new restrictions.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., seemed no more urgent. “I hope there is not a rush to do anything,” said Reid. “We need to take a deep breath.”
Paul Helmke, the president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, promised that gun-control forces would persevere but seemed to acknowledge that the public’s attention span is short.
“Eight years ago this week, the young people in Littleton, Colo., suffered a horrible attack at Columbine High School, and almost exactly six months ago five young people were killed at an Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania,” Helmke said. “Since these killings, we’ve done nothing as a country.”
