Down the Memory Hole?

It was looking like the school shooting in Texas had all the hallmarks of going down the memory hole. I have a policy of not mentioning the killer’s name, but I’m just going to say, if you plan to shoot your way to the top of the news cycle and become a household name, don’t have some Greek name that no one can spell or pronounce, unless you live in Greece. If that kid planned to become a household name, he failed out of the gate with that name. Also, Royal Wedding the next day.

The killer used a shotgun and revolver, not an evil AR-15. Of course, USA Today notes that the killer used “less lethal” firearms, even going so far as, without a hint of irony, noting that “less lethal” weapons were used at Virginia Tech to kill 32 people. We got some narratives to preserve here!

In truth, against unarmored individuals, there’s hardly anything more deadly than a 12 gauge shotgun. Well, maybe a 10 gauge shotgun. I believe our opponents aren’t going to go whole hog on this one, for a couple of reasons:

  • As I mentioned, the news cycle isn’t good for them. You have a lot of things competing for headlines.
  • The weapons used don’t fit the narrative. Their use reinforces our point that the firearms few want to ban are still quite deadly. We keep saying, banning AR-15s won’t stop mass shootings. This shows that’s true. Even if you banned all semi-automatic firearms, you’ll still have school shootings, as this kid shows.
  • People’s emotional batteries haven’t had a chance to recharge after Parkland. You can’t keep people jacked up to 11 all the time. Social media has definitely made that easier, but most people who are soft allies don’t have the energy to keep it up all the time.
  • Didn’t happen in a swing state.

Glenn Reynolds asks, “After Texas school shooting, how can we inoculate ourselves against the next one?”

But the school shootings are just a warning. In his novel Rainbows End, science fiction writer Vernor Vinge writes about “research trends that could ultimately put world-killer weapons into the hands of anyone having a bad hair day.”

That novel is set in 2025, and we’re already not so far from the scenario of someone cooking up a nasty plague in his or her garage. We need to think about what causes people to behave in violent and destructive ways, and how to fix it, while there’s still time.

Read the whole thing.

Speaking of not going whole hog, I’m also seeing evidence that the gun control movement is trying to hook David “Camera” Hogg off the stage and replace him with a more affable Parkland Kid. I’m sure Everytown and the Hollywood people who were managing Hogg probably realized what a liability that kid was almost from the moment they pulled the trigger and realized there was no recalling that particular bullet. I would not have wanted their jobs. You want kids that are comfortable in the spotlight, but not ones that serve up megalomania, with a healthy dose of Hitlerjunge imagery on the side. But you have play the cards you’re dealt, and while they had to play Hogg, we have Ted Nugent. So I suppose it’s even.

Related posts (automatically generated):

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  3. The Assault Weapons Hysteria Begins

15 thoughts on “Down the Memory Hole?”

  1. The shooter used weapons designed in the 19th century to commit his crime.
    Though I hate needing to explain things to people at times like this, ‘high capacity’ magazines are much more important to the innocent defender than to a perpetrator who usually has ample time to reload when facing defenseless, terrified victims.

  2. I think using a shotgun and a revolver was the big sign that it would go down the memory hole.

    And so close to Parkland, as you said, people can’t be 100% all the time.

  3. A big sign will be how many young advocate students they get out of this and put in front of the cameras like they did with Hogg et al.

    1. So far… nothing. Which I do find odd that there is no students there that would be a good face for the anti-gun movement.

      1. It’s Texas? Even if it is a suburb of Houston.

        There have been plenty of anti-gun quotes from students, but I think there’s not so many people who are willing to be figureheads for a divisive movement. IIRC a decent number of the Parkland Kids had been on a debate team or in a debate class with a specific anti-gun prep; IOW, almost a planned ambush.

  4. Pingback: SayUncle » Narrative

  5. They’re spinning this to “we need to limit all guns, to stop this sort of thing from happening again.”

    Seeing a lot of what amounts to “we’re not coming for your guns, but You Need To Be Responsible For Them, For The Common Good.”

    1. Essentially, “putting shame”, on Firearms Owners.

      As I said in a post on another blog though, that will escalate to what you’re seeing as well,…….calls for banning all guns.

      1. Which is why, and I say this all the time but for some reason it never gets done, we need to start applying punishment to the other side and work towards putting the anti gun side out of business. They need to start being hesitant to try again instead of just ready for the next one to pick up where they left off. Where are the lawsuits from our side to shut these people down, to sue them out of their money so they can’t keep using it against us? How about holding the LE that failed criminally liable for failing, and the ones that push gun control charge them with official oppression and deprivation of rights under color of law? We should be dragging their dirty laundry out like would be done to any Congress member who steps on the wrong side of a sensitive issue and make them unable to continue. Kick them off of school boards, city councils, etc. Sue them for libel and slander for the zillions of times they call us murderers, savages, psychos, rednecks, etc. Every other group does that successfully.

        If they don’t start experiencing very real losses and very painful costs then they will continue. It should be our #1 priority to see that they don’t. Why in the hell is our side dropping the ball on this year after year after year?

        1. Part of the reason we don’t engage in the lawsuit aspect is because their is a Billionaire Donor Class of Democrat $money laundering sugar daddies that can afford to absord defendant costs, all the while hitting us with Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, aka, SLAPP Lawsuits to bankrupt us, outright. The PLCAA needs to be amended to shut down SLAPP Lawsuits.

          However, you are correct about the dirty laundry of the gun-banners, and they should be used in the most vicious of ad-campaigns. For example;

          Michael Bloomberg has massive investments in outsourcing firms that profit greatly from Slave and Sweat-Shop Labor in countries like Communist China, Laos, and Cambodia…….Our side needs to hit them for what they are to 1). Energize our side to get out the vote, 2). Encourage the swing voters to our side, 3). Convert some antigunners to our side by of course, exposing the Gun Ban Movement figureheads for who they are, especially using those facts about them to remind voters; “This is who wants to take your guns away”.

  6. The royal wedding, and now a mass shooting in France of all places. That really screws with the narrative.

  7. 2 things:

    1st – The silly book of face feed was earily, yet not surprisingly, devoid of the absolute PSH that happened after Parkland. I think that means that the antis are getting better at their game. Even the initial info (usually wrong) didn’t support the usual arguments and flood of memes.

    2nd – “But you have play the cards you’re dealt, and while they had to play Hogg, we have Ted Nugent. So I suppose it’s even.” That is quote of the day material, right there.

    1. I felt I should add that the factor to blame for so many of these mass shootings, such as the ones I linked above or the Parkland shooting, is a failure of law enforcement not a failure of existing laws.

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