Planet Abell

T he push of other news has crowded the presidential campaign from the media front burner for a few days. I have to think that the occasional yellow flag is welcomed by front-runners and that even emerging also-rans like John McCain are grateful for the small favors of a distracted crowd, so things like "Bomb bomb bomb. Bomb bomb Iran" get ( mostly ) buried. But soon enough the cameras will get back on the calliope. And with a war in Iraq sucking most of the air out of the smoke-filled room who could have predicted that gun control and abortion might be central campaign issues in '08? The disturbingly efficient rampage by Cho Seung-Hui was committed not with the fringe weapons the gun control battle is always about, but With a war in Iraq sucking most of the air out of the smoke-filled room who could have predicted that gun control and abortion might be central campaign issues in '08? with a pedestrian semi-automatic 9 mm handgun he acquired legally (though the New Y...

W e now know who was responsible for the mass shootings at Virginia Tech and are relieved that he was not a terrorist, or someone who had been in the country for a short time, or an illegal alien. Or a Muslim. Nobody to carelessly blame, just a young man, troubled and/or angry and determined to make someone pay for his torment. But suppose it had been a terrorist attack? It is frightening what one person with a handgun can do: a handgun firing the most common round manufactured , easy to purchase legally and to transport. This incident has no obvious homeland security dimensions. In other words, homeland security measures did not fail because they do not apply. But it ought to be troubling to those who protect us from terrorists because it isn't the least bit obvious why those who do wish our destruction have not attacked us in the manner of the Virginia Tech Forget airplanes, skyscrapers, bridges, tunnels and bombs, dirty or otherwise. Anyone who is prepared to die and who has a ...

(UPDATE: Webb says he did not give aide his gun ) T he arrest of an aide to Virginia Sen. Jim Webb for gun possession is bound to be a straight line for at least a few days. The poor guy -- a husband and father -- had to spend the night in jail for forgetting to drop off in Virginia a handgun and two full magazines. What none of the news accounts I've read make abundantly clear is how easy it is for this sort of thing to happen in all innocence. Virginia, which borders DC and is so close in every way that it even shares the city's subway system, is a "shall issue" state , which means that the right to be granted a permit to carry a concealed handgun is more or less inherent and can only be denied for narrow reasons. All you need to qualify for a permit is $50, demonstrate minimal shooting proficiency (taking a safety course from a shooting instructor), fill out some forms, prove residency, wait at least 45 days and make two trips to court (drop off forms, ...