On the 5th Anniversary of Columbine

Via Instapundit comes this Slate piece explaining the psychological diagnoses of Harris and Kleibold. Money quote:

The first steps to understanding Columbine, they say, are to forget the popular narrative about the jocks, Goths, and Trenchcoat Mafia...and to abandon the core idea that Columbine was simply a school shooting. We can't understand why they did it until we understand what they were doing.

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Harris and Klebold would have been dismayed that Columbine was dubbed the "worst school shooting in American history." They set their sights on eclipsing the world's greatest mass murderers, but the media never saw past the choice of venue. The school setting drove analysis in precisely the wrong direction.

Read the whole thing.

But, as Jed from Freedomsight points out, the anniversary of Columbine is being used as an example of why the Assault Weapon Ban must be renewed! Even though the AWB had no effect on the massacre and wouldn't have slowed Harris and Kleibold down, as they themselves said. Nor would "closing the gunshow loophole" (that doesn't exist.) Nor would "safe storage" laws nor trigger locks nor magazine disconnects nor loaded chamber indicators nor anything else the well-meaning but ignorant support.

Deliberately murdering people is illegal.

Building bombs is illegal, too.

Harris and Kleibold used a 9mm Tec-9 pistol, a 9mm Hi-Point Carbine, and two sawed-off shotguns (illegally modified - they didn't pay the required tax nor did they file the required forms). But they also employed 95 explosive devices.

Illegal explosive devices.

"Gun control" would not have stopped them. "Gun control" would not have reduced their rampage. The NRA is not at fault for their slaughter spree.

They are.