Blowing Smoke

 Gun industry exec turns whistleblower [More]

That sounds so much more "progressive" than "Judas," don't you think?

And I see Dix is still misplacing blame after all these years:

A loaded chamber indicator on a Beretta 92 Compact L did not stop 14-year-old Michael Soe from feloniously killing 15-year-old Kenzo Dix during a practical joke. The fact is, Soe's father left a loaded gun where an untrained, impulsive and judgmentally-challenged adolescent could find it. In their lawsuit, backed by CPHV, Dix's parents maintained, among other charges, that the chamber indicator was inadequate because the gun was not inscribed with a warning as well. Presumably, were Beretta to do so, they would still be deemed negligent for not including such warnings in Spanish, French, Mandarin Chinese and Tagalog... The Handgun Control, Inc. (HCI)-supported lawsuit, Dix v Beretta U.S.A., Inc., was decided in favor of the manufacturer on Nov.16 by a 9-3 jury vote. Considering that the verdict occurred in Oakland, California, gun rights advocates should be encouraged that it was obtained with such a wide margin. Still, evoking the Terminator’s ominous "I’ll be back!" signature line, Dix family attorney Nancy Hersh predicts "I think we'll win the next one." While I normally cast a skeptical eye at claims coming from the gun ban camp, in this case I believe her, at least the part about there being a "next one."

We can all feel empathy and human compassion for such a soul-shredding loss, but that does not give the grief-stricken a lifetime pass when it comes to making the rest of us pay for something we didn't do under the force of law.

[Via Andy M]