The Newtown school massacre

What happened

America’s long, bitter debate over gun control seemed to reach a turning point this week, after a lone gunman armed with a semiautomatic assault rifle horrified the nation when he slaughtered 20 first-graders in an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. Adam Lanza, 20, broke into Sandy Hook Elementary School last week armed with two handguns, a Bushmaster AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, and several hundred rounds of ammunition, all legally purchased by his mother, Nancy. Firing hundreds of rounds from the Bushmaster, he worked his way through two first-grade classrooms, killing 14 children in one and six in the other, firing at least three bullets and up to 11 into each victim. The principal, the school psychologist, and four teachers also lost their lives trying to prevent the massacre. Lanza used one of the handguns to shoot himself dead as police arrived on the scene. Police later discovered his mother shot to death in her home. The brutal effectiveness of Lanza’s killing spree shocked the nation, and sparked widespread calls for tougher gun-control laws. “These tragedies must end,” said President Obama at an interfaith service for the Newtown victims and their families. “And to end them, we must change.”

The White House announced the formation of a special task force headed by Vice President Joe Biden to formulate the specific policies that might prevent future mass shootings. Obama said he wanted legislation submitted to Congress within a month, saying it should include a renewal of the federal ban on assault rifles like the AR-15, which expired in 2004; a ban on large-capacity ammunition clips that allow 30 to 100 rapid-fire shots without reloading; and closure of a loophole allowing unlicensed buyers to purchase weapons at gun shows. Some Republicans said they’d resist such legislation, but several Democrats with a record of strong support of gun rights, including West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, said the Connecticut massacre had “changed America.” He pledged support for “commonsense” legislation to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and to do “whatever I can do to protect children.”

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What the editorials said

Let’s start with a ban on assault weapons that were designed for one thing—mass slaughter, said The Washington Post. The Bushmaster Lanza used is a version of the M-16 used by the military, “and does not belong in private hands, any more than M-1 Abrams tanks,” hand grenades, or mortars do. Fully automatic weapons, or machine guns, are already banned—with no negative impact on the Second Amendment, said the New York Post. Modern semiautomatic weapons can fire dozens of rounds in seconds, making them just as deadly as the fully automatic “gangster guns” banned by Congress in 1934. They are not necessary for self-defense or for hunting, and it’s “time to get rid of them.”

It’s only natural to seek “a protective salve of public policy” in the wake of such a massacre, said The Wall Street Journal. But let’s not rush into a new round of gun restrictions, which alone do little to prevent widespread acts of terror. Norway’s “tight gun-control and licensing regime” did not deter Anders Breivik from shooting 69 people dead last year.

Not everyone believes the Second Amendment gives Americans “an absolute right to own guns,” said The New York Times. But the Supreme Court has ruled that it does, and some 68 percent of the public agrees—so whatever reforms we make must respect the concerns of “law-abiding, safety-conscious gun owners.” At the same time, gun enthusiasts must recognize that none of the Constitution’s protections are “so absolute that they erase concerns about public safety and welfare.”

What the columnists said

“Why can’t we regulate guns as seriously as we do cars?” said Nicholas D. Kristof, also in The New York Times. Guns kill one person every 20 minutes in this country, and yet they are almost free of federal restrictions. To drive a car, however, one must pass written and driving tests, wear seat belts, and follow safety laws. “Can’t we be equally adult about regulating guns?” Gun-control laws can work, said Will Oremus in Slate.com. In Australia, a shooting massacre in 1996 prompted the government to ban the sale of semiautomatic guns, buy back those in circulation, and require gun purchasers to register all weapons under their own names. Gun deaths there dropped 59 percent over the following decade, with not a single mass shooting since.

This isn’t Australia, said Nick Gillespie in Reason.com. This is America, where our Supreme Court has “upheld an individual right to bear arms.” Sandy Hook was a terrible crime, but let’s remember how the country overreacted to 9/11 with the Patriot Act and other violations of civil liberties. “Few good policies come from rapid responses to deeply felt injuries.” The most effective response would be to let citizens carry weapons in all public places, said John Fund in NationalReview.com. Mass killers always pick “gun-free zones” where people are helpless. These cowards would be deterred if they knew someone would shoot back.

We’ll all hear more of such nonsense in coming weeks and months, said Jonathan Chait in NYMag.com. Reformers may think the “utter emotional devastation” inflicted by Sandy Hook will finally shame the National Rifle Association and its congressional supporters, but “ultraconservatives” in the House fear only being primaried in their ultraconservative districts. Some events, though, carry such emotional power that they can change history, said Peggy Noonan in WSJ.com. If Democrats act quickly and narrowly, they can reimpose a ban on assault weapons and extended ammunition clips. Obama also has an opening to address “the culture of death” in Hollywood movies, TV shows, and video games. (See Controversy of the week.) A sickened American public is eager for real leadership. “Newtown changes everything.”