David Frum Comments On Navy Yard Shooter, Inevitable Gun Control Debate
Conservative David Frum has been tweeting about the Navy Yard shootings, referencing recent mass casualty shootings like it and their effect on national conversations about guns and gun control.
It seems Twitter doesn’t know exactly what to make of David Frum’s Navy Yard shooting tweets, with some people retweeting them as if Frum meant them 100 percent seriously, users on both sides of the “debate” excoriating him, and a general cranky reception to the comments.
Frum began a few hours after the Navy Yard shooting was reported, before the debate over guns kicked off (as we know it will), but after the words “assault rifle” showed up in relation to the gunman.
At mid-morning, Frum tweeted about the looming controversy, and user @NYCMickey noted that the CNN talking head “just exposed the pro-gun play book with trenchant sarcasm that no one understands.”
It began when Frum said:
Another mass casualty shooting, this time at Washington Navy Yard. (1)
— davidfrum (@davidfrum) September 16, 2013
But then he added:
In wake of this most recent mass-casualty shooting, it is important that we all respect the feelings of America’s gun enthusiasts. (2)
— davidfrum (@davidfrum) September 16, 2013
Observing a few simple rules of etiquette will help the post-shooting conversation to proceed in appropriate ways. (3)
— davidfrum (@davidfrum) September 16, 2013
He charges:
Rule 1: It is “ghoulish” to suggest in any way that the easy availability of guns might in any way enable gun slaughter.
— davidfrum (@davidfrum) September 16, 2013
Then Frum goes to the mattresses:
Rule 2: Gun crime in the president’s hometown proves that guns anywhere else are no fit topic of conversation.
— davidfrum (@davidfrum) September 16, 2013
Rule 3: All gun owners are to be complimented as responsible and law-abiding until they personally have hurt themselves or somebody else
— davidfrum (@davidfrum) September 16, 2013
He concludes:
Rule 4: Any attempt to stop mass casualty shootings is “political.” Allowing them to continue is”non-political.”
— davidfrum (@davidfrum) September 16, 2013
Rule 5: Gun ownership is essential to freedom, as in Serbia & Guatemala. Gun restrictions lead to tyranny, as in Australia & Canada.
— davidfrum (@davidfrum) September 16, 2013
What did you think of David Frum’s Navy Yard shooting tweets?
