Scott Adams Loses It

Todays periscope is exceptional in that Mr. Adams, normally a wise voice of reason, starts out well by pointing out that if someone proposes a solution/cause/whatever regarding gun violence that hits only one thing, they are either lying or stupid. On this I agree, and think that the third possibility is both. Are mass shootings caused by violent video games? Probably not, but they make a convenient scapegoat. Are they caused by availability of guns? Well, it's difficult to perform a mass shooting without one, but absent a gun there are lots of other alternatives, several of which are arguably more effective. This makes a fairly convincing line of argument as far as it goes.

So next, at the 24 minute mark. he goes off into this fantasy about how guns affect the personality and mental state of the owners. Has anyone, he asks, ever acquired their first AR pattern rifle, and not posed with it before a mirror to see how "cool" it makes him or her look, and imagined how many people he could kill with it? He also suggests that the styling of such guns encourages that kind of thinking.

My guess is that that number must be statistically as close to zero as not to matter. Some people, maybe a lot of them, buy clothing or cars on that basis. Being a consummate nerd, I pretty much didn't, although the style factor did come in a time or two. Lately with cars, although I plead midlife crisis on those. I have never, however, ever bought a gun based on its "cool" factor.

Any one who poses in front of a mirror to see how cool they might look while killing a large number of people was already planning to kill a large number of people before he acquired the gun.

He also suggests that if the guns looked less menacing, no self-respecting wannabe mass shooter would use one while committing his crime. All this would do is encourage the sale of a can of black spray paint to go with your new Evil Clown Rifle. It would also bollix the concept of painting toy guns in bright colors to more easily distinguish them from real ones. Some criminals are already painting the barrel thingies of whatever function red in order to lull the victim/police into not shooting them until they get close enough to give the thug an easier shot.

Anyway who would think to stop this guy as he entered a Wal-Mart: