By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
In the aftermath of the San Jose shooting, President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass tougher gun control laws, and at least three major gun prohibition lobbying groups used the opportunity to solicit donations for their efforts to push for background checks.
There is just one problem with the argument as it turns out. The suspected gunman, who apparently took his own life after fatally shooting nine people, reportedly purchased his firearms legally, which means he already went through background checks. In California, it also means he went through three waiting periods.
Instead of preventing the tragedy, California’s strict gun control laws evidently did not work.
The president moved swiftly in his response.
“Once again,” Biden said in a statement, “I urge Congress to take immediate action and heed the call of the American people, including the vast majority of gun owners, to help end this epidemic of gun violence in America. Every life that is taken by a bullet pierces the soul of our nation. We can, and we must, do more.”
Anti-gun billionaire Michael Bloomberg’s Everytown for Gun Safety issued an email blast Wednesday afternoon while the crime scene investigation was still underway. The group called for action on background checks.
About the same time, the Seattle-based Alliance for Gun Responsibility circulated an email fundraiser, in which it pushed the nomination of gun control proponent David Chipman to head the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It asked recipients, “Can you donate today to honor the victims of the San Jose shooting and all acts of gun violence with action?”
On Thursday, Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action, circulated her own request for contributions, declaring “The U.S. Senate has an opportunity to take bipartisan action on background checks, and we can’t afford to miss this moment.”
But anti-gunners are ignoring the emerging facts. Not only did the suspected gunman, identified as Samuel Cassidy, purchase his handguns legally, he also evidently violated long-standing California law banning so-called “high capacity magazines.”
According to CNN, the shooter “had three 9mm pistols and 32 high-capacity magazines, the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday. The magazines, which hold more than 10 rounds, are illegal to possess in California.”
That revelation amounts to an acknowledgement that another gun control law failed to prevent a crime.
Additionally, Biden renewed his call for a ban on so-called “assault weapons,” even though the alleged killer used handguns in his deadly attack.
So far, the gun prohibition lobby has been silent on these important details.
According to Fox News, the suspect “was due to attend a disciplinary hearing that day over claims of racist remarks he made on the job about co-workers, according to reports.”
Cassidy was employed at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). He had worked there for nine years.
In their solicitations for money, all of the gun control groups used some variation of “We don’t have to live like this.”
