Gun Control Should Be Run Through the Nancy Lanza Test

Ranjit Singh over at Bearing Arms has an interesting test for Gun control proposals called The Nancy Lanza Test For Gun Control Proposals

This Tuesday, former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ) published an op-ed at The Philadelphia Inquirer touting universal background checks as a means to saving lives. Tom Knighton has already taken on her misleading op-ed and I recommend that you read his article.

The 800 lb. gorilla in the room that’s missing in Giffords’ article is that the man who shot her passed a background check when he bought the pistol he used in his crime. That alone undermines Giffords’ claim in a big way. And it’s not just him; most perpetrators in highly publicized mass attacks that I can think of – Sutherland Springs, Orlando, San Bernardino, Las Vegas, Charleston – you name it, all of them passed background checks and in some cases, with glaring governmental incompetence. (Others got their guns through theft and straw purchases.)

Nancy Lanza was the mother of Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook killer. Rather than subject himself to a background check, which he couldn't pass, he killed his mother and stole her gun. Of course, his mother had passed a background check. So, what is the Nancy Lanza test?

Insurance mandates such as the ones demanded by the San Jose mayor? Nancy Lanza was financially comfortable enough to afford the insurance and would have bought it.

Special taxes on guns and/or ammo? Same as the insurance policy; financially comfortable citizen Nancy Lanza would have been able to afford the special taxes.

Training demands such as the ones proposed by New York Democrats? Nancy Lanza was a firearms enthusiast who made regular trips to the gun range. She would have passed every marksmanship test that the Gun Grab Lobby demands we take.

Registration laws? Model Citizen Nancy Lanza would have complied with those too, and registration wouldn’t have made any difference anyway.

Raising the minimum age to buy guns? Nancy Lanza would have been old enough to buy a gun even with the minimum age raised to 21.

Red flag laws? Nancy Lanza never posed a threat to anyone and would not have been subject to red flag confiscation.

There were no indications that the actual perpetrator who stole her guns and committed the crime posed a threat to anyone either. Not one of the above unconstitutional gun control proposals would have stopped Sandy Hook because all those proposals, if enacted into law, would have applied to Nancy Lanza, not the perpetrator who murdered his own mother because she was in the way of his perverse plan.

I do believe that some people sincerely believe that gun control would work, but as you can see, it never really does. And that is why the Constitution states rather clearly that the peoples right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. All of the laws proposed to limit gun ownership or tho register guns are infringements. Moreover, they would not ahve prevented Sandy Hook, or indeed, any other shooting.