pudge's Journal: Hillary Grasps At Straws on Guns

MODERATOR: Senator Clinton, a question for you: Did the government -- did any role that federal government plays fail those students at Virginia Tech?

CLINTON: Yes.

You know, I remember very well when I accompanied Bill to Columbine after that massacre and met with the family members of those who had been killed and talked with the students, and feeling that we had to do more to try to keep guns out of the hands of the criminal and of the mentally unstable.

And during the Clinton administration, that was a goal -- not to, in any way, violate people's Second Amendment rights, but to try to limit access to people who should not have guns.

Unfortunately, we saw the tragedy unfold at Virginia Tech. We now know that the background check system didn't work, because certainly this shooter, as he's called, had been involuntarily committed as a threat to himself and others. And, yet, he could walk in and buy a gun.

So the federal government failed those students at Virginia Tech by Virginia's failure to follow federal law that prohibited Cho from purchasing a gun.

Ooooooooo K.

I can see a reasonable case for that to be true.

[Zeriel]

If the intent is to say "The Federal Government failed by allowing (through insufficient enforcement and spot checks on compliance) Virginia to have a flawed implementation of the law in place." then I can see that.

Somehow, I don't think that's what she's actually going for, but I tend to give everyone in politics the benefit of the doubt when it comes to figuring out what the hell they actually meant to say.

Re:I can see a reasonable case for that to be true

[multimed]

...but I tend to give everyone in politics the benefit of the doubt when it comes to figuring out what the hell they actually meant to say.

Funny - I tend to do just the opposite. I typically assume that they've been so coached and handled to hide their real intentions, so when little things slip through I often read more into them.

because certainly this shooter, as he's called

What does that last part mean? Is that code for something or a reference to something I'm not getting?