I hope James Holmes will at least put a stake through the argument [View all]

[pnwmom]

that gun legislation is pointless because people who legally own their guns are never going to use them improperly anyway; that it's only the "criminals" who misuse guns, and they would ignore any gun laws that were passed. Holmes was a legal gun owner up to the time he (allegedly) fired on a theater full of people, at which point he became (allegedly) a criminal.

And he obtained every one of his firearms legally, including his assault weapon, thanks to the expiration of the Assault Weapons Ban in 2004.

http://www.salon.com/2012/07/25/romneys_gun_flub/

Mitt Romney is deeply confused about gun laws. In an interview set to air later tonight on NBC, the GOP presidential candidate says that alleged Aurora, Colo., shooter James Holmes “shouldn’t have had any kind of weapons and bombs and other devices” that he did. Romney says this justifies current gun laws as strong enough: “It was illegal for him to have many of those things already, but he had them. So we can sometimes hope that just changing the law will make all bad things go away. It won’t.” Instead, Romney says “changing the hearts of the American people” is a better policy.

This is simply not true. As Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates explained: “All the weapons that he possessed, he possessed legally. And all the clips that he possessed, he possessed legally. And all the ammunition that he possessed, he possessed legally.”

Holmes used a handgun, a shotgun and an AR-15 assault rifle in his massacre — all legal, thanks to the expiration of the Assault Weapons Ban in 2004, which had previously prohibited some versions of the AR-15. Holmes also had body armor, tear gas grenades, a gas mask and tactical gear. All are legal and widely available online at minimal cost (one website sells tear gas grenades for just $16 a pop).

The only way it would have been illegal for Holmes to have his guns would be if he had been diagnosed as mentally ill or was a convicted felon, but neither was the case. His only record was a speeding ticket. “Background checks, as required by federal law, were properly conducted, and [Holmes] was approved,” said a spokesman for Bass Pro Shops, where he bought one of his guns. Holmes had also booby-trapped his apartment with homemade explosives, but there’s no evidence yet that any of these devices were illegal either, as he made them himself with common materials like gasoline.

SNIP