Study: California has restrictive gun laws (now that's a shocking revelation)

The June Issue of Injury Prevention magazine reports on a "study" by UC Davis physician and director of the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program, Garen Wintemute (no civilian disarmament advocacy bias there, I'm sure).

According to Dr. Wintemute, his research shows that California's draconian laws regulating gun shows (and most other aspects of firearms ownership and commerce) tend to render the gun shows . . . highly regulated, which is apparently expected to be seen as a good thing.

Professor Barry Pless, editor of Injury Prevention, said he felt compelled to include the paper immediately following the deaths of 32 people in a shooting incident at Virginia Tech University in April.

This, I suppose, is better than the Brady Bunch's immediate reaction, which was to send a mass e-mailing asking for money. Probably even a little better than Carolyn "I don't know what barrel shrouds are, but I want to ban them anyway" McCarthy's introduction of H.R. 1859. Both of these actions were taken before the bodies were even removed from the scene.

He writes: 'This study represents a small but critical step towards truly effective gun control in a country where the culture of guns verges on the incomprehensible.

"A small but critical step"--would that be anything like "a good first step"? You know--every gun law ever passed or proposed is hailed as "a good first step."

'Although there is no evidence that the deranged shooter obtained his guns from a gun show, the implications for prevention seem evident.

Stating that "there is no evidence" that Cho got his guns from a gun show is certainly one way of putting it--another, more instructive, way would be to state that we know conclusively that he did not get either one of his firearms from a gun show, any more than Middle Eastern militants do (also here), the Brady Bunch notwithstanding.

'They reveal the greatly increased risks of deadly weapons being sold at shows in states that lack California's regulations.

Yes, commerce does tend to be more robust when not smothered by regulation--I suppose we are to believe that this is a bad thing?

'Even in the US it seems odd to permit undocumented gun sales while fussing about undocumented immigrants.'

Undocumented immigrants like the gentlemen who planned to attack Fort Dix? Mustn't fuss about them.

Congratulations, Doc, your research proves that California has much more restrictive gun laws than many other states--did you need a big research grant and several months to discover that?

IMPORTANT: If you haven't seen it already, check out what David Codrea says about our "Hero of Medicine."