Isla Vista murders: What new gun control laws, what new lessons?

Elliot Rodger's story is not one of an untreated, mentally ill, white mass-killer who illegally acquired fully automatic "assault weapons." This mixed white and Asian 22-year-old bought his firearms legally, did not use a long-arm or "high-capacity" weapon and had been in therapy since the age of 8. Half his murder victims were killed by knife. Several of the injured were run over by Rodger's car.

None of the mental health professionals apparently felt that Rodger was a danger to himself or others. The police had recently conducted a welfare check on him at the request of his family. Rodger persuaded the police that he was fine.

In the media coverage of the Isla Vista, Calif., murdering rampage, one angle seems conspicuously absent. Few in the media describe the killings as a "hate crime." Determining what is and is not a crime motivated by "hate" has always seemed bizarre, particularly given how the term seems selectively applied. A Hispanic, for example, could, until recently, be a "hate crime" victim — but not a perp. Government hate crime stats counted Hispanic perps — but not victims — as "white," thus inflating the number of hate crimes committed by "whites."

The Isla Vista murderer has a white father and Chinese mother. In his 140-page "manifesto," Rodger spells out exactly whom he hates -- "fully white" people: "I realized, with some horror, that I wasn't 'cool' at all. I had a dorky hairstyle, I wore plain and uncool clothing, and I was shy and unpopular. On top of this was the feeling that I was different because I am of mixed race. I am half white, half Asian, and this made me different from the normal fully-white kids that I was trying to fit in with."

At the age of 8, he talked his parents into letting him dye his hair blonde. The hairdresser, however, said he was too young, and would only bleach the top. Two years later, Rodger tried again: "I was eager to re-bleach my hair to a fully blonde color, after the disastrous failure of my previous attempt. This time, (my stepmother) took me to the right salon, and they gave me a short haircut and bleached all of my hair blonde. When I looked at myself in the mirrior (sic), I felt an intense level of satisfaction."

What's more disturbing — that a child, at age 8, wants to dye his hair to be a different race or that his parents let him do it?

Rodger also wrote racist postings on PuaHate, a misogynist hate site for men who dislike "pickup artists" and consider them manipulative hucksters who score attractive women over more deserving people like Rodger. Last January, he posted this:

"Today I drove through the area near my college and saw some things that were extremely rage-inducing.

"I passed by this restaurant and I saw this black guy chilling with 4 hot white girls. He didn't even look good.

"Then later on in the day I was shopping at Trader Joe's and saw an Indian guy with 2 above average White Girls!!!

"What rage-inducing sights did you guys see today? Don't you just hate seeing these things when you go out? It just makes you want to quit life."

A murder victim's anguished father blamed "craven, irresponsible politicians and the NRA." This father, of course, is in deep pain. The desire to blame something or someone is understandable. And, yes, mental health care experts should advise us on warning signs and encourage us to be proactive in urging those who need help to get it.

But while the experts play Sigmund Freud, may we protect ourselves — evening the odds a little in favor of the good guys? This spree lasted 10 minutes, and police counted nearly a dozen crime scenes.

Nearly 40 states allow people — on a "shall issue" basis — to carry a concealed weapon, something that might have minimized the Isla Vista carnage. But California is not a "shall issue" state.

California has some of the most stringent "gun control" laws in the country, including the elimination of the so-called "gun-show loophole" and limiting handgun purchases to one per month. All transactions require a background check -- even a private sale between two police officers. A new law requires "traceable micro-stamping" for all new semi-automatic handguns.

Still the NRA gets blamed -- not the gun-free zones, not the inability of citizens to protect themselves and certainly not the shooter. Blaming the NRA or "craven politicians" won't stop bad guys -- in this case, one filled with racial hatred -- from doing bad things. The old line still rings true: The best and most sure way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

And, once again (and particularly because the leftist media seems incapable of finding this information):

California State (Firearms) Law Summary (Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence)

I think the thing was engendered more by the theraputic, high self esteem, victimization culture this dude was bathed in. The progs actively encourage a sense of entitlement, resentment and envy. And then they wring their hands when the chickens come home to roost and say the only solution to disarm the law abiding pool of true victims.

This guy was clearly mentally ill, as have been the previous perpetrators of similar crimes. The problem is that we collectively do not understand mental illness well enough. We do not know how to judge when it can become violent. We do not really know how to treat it. We do not know how to identify it in someone who appears normal. What we need is more research into mental illness, not more laws trying to control various weapons, just because we cannot evaluate the people who might use them For instance, a sick person could easily make a horrific bomb from a propane tank. Do you think regulating propane tanks is the answer?

Victim culture - yes indeedy. Resentment, jealousy - there is this potential in every human heart. It must be beaten back and controlled, not fed and savored. That is why we were given the Ten Commandments. I am not calling this murderer ‘mentally ill,’ because this gives him an excuse. I’ll call it evil.

Each and every day, we FReepers/conservatives/patriots/veterans/normal/non-nutcase people encounter dozens things that pi** us off, yet we don't go on knifing/shooting/running people over with a car sprees, nor do we scream "racism", "sexism" or "heterophobia" (that's not even a real word). We deal with it. Yet the Lefties, always looking for another crack in our armor, are looking to blame our guns once again.

It's not about guns, knives, BMWs, crazy people, violent video games, violent songs, violent movies or any of that...it's about controlling us. We all know that already, so don't waste any more time arguing the subject. The next time you hear some CommieLib jackwagon at the office, at church, at the PTA meeting, the bar, wherever, saying our guns should be taken away, realize his mind is already made up, and arguing is a waste of time. Look him in the eye and say, "Okay, come take 'em. I dare you." Don't waver, don't blink, don't elaborate, just stare him in the eye and dare him.

Scouts Out! Cavalry Ho!

As I have noted before: self-esteem is a vice, a fact first recorded by St. John Cassian in his spiritually perceptive little tract On the Eight Grievous Vices.

It is one of the tricks of the Evil One in these latter days people in charge of educating our children are peddling this vice as a virtue. There are more blatant instances of calling evil "good" these days, but selling people on the idea the self-esteem is a virtue may actually be one of the most spiritually destructive.

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