this is why hoplophobes will lose

What follows is a direct quote from an email sent by Richard Locker, the author of some recent Commercial Appeal articles concerning firearm-related bills working their way through the Tennessee Legislature. This email was sent in response to another email sent by a member of a forum I read, concerning this particular article. I will stress this point – this is a direct quote of Richard Locker’s own words:

Here is why the two stories are related. The Tennessee legislation is about loaded long guns inside of motor vehicles. The Alabama shooter was driving around in a motor vehicle with loaded long guns (plus a handgun). In addition to the five relatives he killed, he killed five innocent bystanders — three of whom were going about their business on the sides of public streets. The shooter shot and killed them from his vehicle. If the guns had not been loaded, he would have had to stop and load them. There is a slight chance that three people might have noticed what he was doing and had time to flee — or as Rep. Fincher suggests, shoot him before he shot anyone else.

*blink*
*blinkblinkblink*
What. The. Hell.
Richard honestly believes that someone who just got finished murdering five of his very own relatives would actually be deterred by laws mandating that all firearms in vehicles must be unloaded and separated from their ammunition. Richard sincerely thinks that someone embarking on a vehicle-mounted murdering spree would actually pay attention to the laws concrning transporting firearms, and not load them until he had brought his car to a complete stop.
Are you kidding me? I mean, seriously, were you somehow joking, Richard? That comment is just so many kinds of stupid, I cannot even begin to adequately express it. Here is a hint: CRIMINALS DO NOT OBEY LAWS. That is, oddly enough, why they are called “criminals”. Really now, how hard is that to understand?
And that is why hoplophobes will, eventually, lose their battle – their positions are not based in logic, they are not based in rational thought, and there are times (like right now) that I seriously doubt that they are based in the same reality the rest of us are currently occupying. And that complete and utter disconnect from the world around them will eventually lead to their failure, hopefully before they are capable of bringing the rest of the country down with them.
For the time being, though, I cannot decide if thoughts such as these are hysterically amusing, eminently pitiable, or just pathetically disappointing. Possibly all three would be valid, though…