Do Gun Turn-In Programs Prevent Shootings?

The saddest humor in this piece is Daley standing up with the chutzpah to ask with mock shock in his voice, "Think about it--here's the Mayor of Chicago asking people to turn in their assault weapons . . . we're not in Iraq . . . . what do people need assault weapons for in Chicago?"

Excellent question, Mayor. Let's see:

1. If you've lived in Chicago all your life and haven't figured out why people might want defensive firearms, you aren't paying attention. There's some violence happening in Chicago on occasion.

2. The weapons you're talking about aren't assault weapons. They aren't automatic weapons at all. They're semi-automatic weapons that look like automatic rifles and machine pistols, but they're not. The Chicago City Council simply declared them assault weapons by fiat. They could just as easily (and legally) declare rolling pins and yardsticks "assault weapons" and you could ask the same stupid question in the same aggrieved tone about those. It's a little ironic that you've mislabeled a long list of guns as "assault weapons," and then you have the gall to ask people why they want "assault weapons."

I could just as easily declare that the Mayor's favorite book is pornographic and then demand to know why he's carrying pornography around. I could act as outraged as I want, but it still wouldn't change what that book really was.