If there is one thing that anti-2A activists are good at, it’s deflecting blame. Or, at the very least, refusing to take the blame even when they are responsible for the situation.
A battered wife is killed by her abusive ex-husband while waiting to finish out the waiting period for a handgun to defend herself? It’s pro-2A activists fault (somehow)!
A criminal in strictly gun controlled Chicago, Baltimore, or Washington, D.C. shoots an innocent bystander? It’s the fault of gun sellers in nearby states!
Someone does something horrible to someone else involving a gun? Blame the gun!
None of these make sense. But that doesn’t stop people from saying them.
Just look at how the mayor of Seattle, even if not in an outright way, implied that someone else was to blame for a recent shooting incident there and fired them (you can find out more about that incident here). Gene Johnson with the Associated Press writes,
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson on Friday defended her decision to oust the city’s police chief as the “right decision at the right time,” but she declined to explain why.
The leadership change came as police continue searching for people involved in a fatal, gang-related shootout at a food festival near the Space Needle last weekend.
This sounds suspiciously like the police chief who was fired was blamed for the shooting incident even if that isn’t said bluntly.
But you have to ask: Wouldn’t the chief have been implementing the mayor’s policies, so, ultimately, the mayor is who is to blame for any failure on the part of law enforcement regarding that situation?
But that would take too much self-reflection and intellectual honesty, wouldn’t it?
To be fair, the deflection of blame is a human thing. It could be a politician thing instead of a gun control advocate thing in this case, too.
Whatever the reason for it, though, it’s reprehensible.
Obviously, when it comes to Seattle mayor Katie Wilson, the buck doesn’t stop with her. It goes right by her and moves downhill.
