Wayne to the Rescue

The day a gunman killed five students at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, it was more than an hour before Dr. Connie Catellani knew that her son Tony Skelton, an NIU senior, was safe.

So she's used her new-found indignation to presume to dictate on our right to keep and bear arms, and the ignorance, hysteria and distrust she employs are straight out of the Brady playbook.

And because she's a doctor, the media accords her more "authority" on the subject than they would if she were, say, a sex worker. Not (completely) meaning to be facetious, but would either of those professions be consulted for meaningful input if your TV was on the fritz, or your car had a funny noise coming from the transmission?

But because this person is an MD, we're supposed to listen to her on RKBA? Couldn't using that as a credential to give her voice special credibility be considered malpractice of sorts?

Someone who does have credentials, John Lott, was given the opportunity to present a rational alternative to "gun free zones." But what I found disturbing was that Dr. Catellani's most damaging argument against him, at least as far as the general public is concerned, came from someone ostensibly on "our side." Listen at 25 minutes 50 seconds into the recording (access via link on Lott's post--it's a big file, so those of you on dial up will need patience), and who does she cite? Not Paul Helmke, Peter Hamm or Sarah Brady, not Josh Sugarmann, but the biggest name in "gun rights."

And what does she cite?

This:

First, we believe in absolutely gun-free, zero-tolerance, totally safe schools. That means no guns in America's schools, period ... with the rare exception of law enforcement officers or trained security personnel.

We believe America's schools should be as safe as America's airports. You can't talk about, much less take, bombs and guns onto airplanes. Such behavior in our schools should be prosecuted just as certainly as such behavior in our airports is prosecuted.

[Via HZ]