The mass-murder last week by a Christian-hating nutjob at Umpqua Community College is tragic.

The liberal response, however, is predictable. President Obama came out before the bodies had a chance to cool and called for more gun regulations. As it so often turns out none of the standard boilerplate "commonsense" solutions from the left would have done a single thing to prevent the odious individual from committing the crime.

Instead, President Obama has begun to praise Britain and Australia for their recent gun confiscation efforts (which haven't stopped mass casualty or even mass-shooting attacks in either of those countries). While the pro-illegal immigration left pooh-poohs the idea (nevermind that no one actually proposes this) that we could round-up and deport approximately 11 million illegal immigrants, the idea that attempting to confiscate more than 300 million firearms is somehow plausible.

Such an effort would likely also precipitate a civil war and tends to put to the lie Obama's statement that he's not going to take away your guns.

Liberals and guns

What struck me today was looking at some of the New York Times promoted comments on the standard pro-gun control op-ed by Frank Bruni.

Ranjith Desilva, who says he was a college professor for more than 3 decades had this to say:

We

Professor Desilva, it's a good thing this never happened while you were teaching. Because you'd have spent the next decade or so in prison after having pulled your stunt. This is called "brandishing" and it's illegal. Here's California's law, but it's not dissimilar to the law in every other state.

In order to prove that you brandished a weapon under Penal Code 417 PC, the prosecutor must prove the following facts (otherwise known as “elements” of the crime):

1. that you drew or exhibited a deadly weapon or firearm in the presence of another person,
2. that either
   1. you did so in a rude, angry, or threatening manner, or
   2. you did so unlawfully in a fight or quarrel, and
3. that you were not acting in self-defense or in the defense of another person at the time.²

By Desilva's own admission, he would've quickly been found guilty.

Desilva's worried about the educational environment where concealed carry is legal? Did Desilva live in his office on campus? Did the man ever go out in public? How do you ever function in American society—except in New York City, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Chicago (until a few years ago) and a handful of other localities—where concealed carry is a fact of life, then completely lose your marbles when presented with the idea that a handful of your students might be carrying a weapon.

If you're looking for commonsense gun control solutions, the best one—especially for the likes of Prof. Desilva and his 174 recommenders—is that liberals and guns should be banned.