Shootings like those in Aurora, Colo., and Oak Creek inevitably bring out calls for banning either the kind of gun used, or guns entirely.

That is the same kind of logic as asserting that the way to curb drunk driving is to ban either alcohol or motor vehicles. Neither shooting would have taken place had movie theaters or Sikh temples been banned from existence.

Given the fact that the borders of this country are far from secure, the idea that the government could successfully ban either “assault weapons” or handguns is ludicrous. The fact that millions of gun owners did not commit a crime with their weapons Sunday, and the fact that gun ownership is a constitutional right should shut up the gun control crowd, but of course it hasn’t and won’t.

A certain political direction is fond of the term “root causes” when it wants to justify a certain policy or excuse someone’s behavior. I’d love to hear the root cause of this (from Twitchy):

Corey Cogdell is a Trap Shooter who won a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and competed in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

She also participates in trophy hunting (hunting of wild game animals).

After Cogdell published photos on Facebook of herself posing alongside animals she killed, anti-hunting activists took to Twitter to express their strong displeasure.

@CoreyCogdell pity the bus didn’t crash. You are a waste of oxygen and an embarassment to the human race.Karma is a bitch.— 
Natascha Bracale (@TaschaB13) August 04, 2012

Some critics actually urged Cogdell to shoot herself:

@CoreyCogdell please go shoot yourself in the knees. YOU ANIMAL MURDERER!! you’re a disgusting human being.— 
  (@Konejira) August 03, 2012

@CoreyCogdell kill yourself please !— 
¡ElAmorDeTúVidɑ ♥ (@angel_alexaa) August 03, 2012

Several more Twitter users appeared to encourage violence against Cogdell or her family:

@Animal_Justice @coreycogdell What a f***ing waste! WTFIs wrong with ppl?cruel!! These ppl need to be shot deheaded and posted on a wall— 
Vanessa Lea Kapusta (@NeSaLeaKapusta) August 03, 2012

I really hope the olympic games do something about this murderer @coreycogdell sad, so sad maybe she needs to feel a shoot to understand— 
Mikito Sanmi (@mikkitto) August 03, 2012

@CoreyCogdell I hope that someone someday shoot your whole familly just practicing.— 
Pablo Honney (@pablito_honas) August 02, 2012

Who is scarier? Cogdell the armed woman, or these gutless wonders who spew their hatred anonymously?

It is safe to say that most of the news media knows less than it thinks about guns. For them, the Independent Institute provides a primer:

Are Some Guns More Dangerous than Others? The shooter in Aurora had three firearms when he entered the theater: a pump action shotgun, a semiautomatic rifle and a semiautomatic handgun.

In a closed, crowded setting like a movie theater, the shotgun was probably the most lethal of the three. Every shotgun shell can spray a half-dozen or more pellets, each capable of killing or maiming a person. Twelve-gauge shotguns often fire five shells, and sometimes more, before needing to be reloaded. And unlike semiautomatics, they don’t typically jam.

Yet in most American cities, just about anybody can buy a shotgun at the drop of a hat. Antigun activists and politicians almost never propose banning them.

Instead, the focus these days is on so-called “assault weapons.”

Should We Be Especially Worried About Assault Weapons? Assault weapons are not usually the weapon of choice. Neither of the two worst shooting sprees in U.S. history involved assault weapons. James Huberty, who killed 20 people at a McDonald’s restaurant in San Ysidro, California, in 1984, used a shotgun, a pistol and a hunting rifle. George Hennard, who killed 22 people at a Luby’s Cafeteria in Killeen, Texas, in 1991, used two ordinary pistols. …

Basically, what disqualified a weapon when the short-lived assault weapons ban was in effect was looking like a military weapon. The offensive features included plastic stocks, extended ammunition clips, collapsible butt-stocks, and other decorative devices that made them look like, but not operate as, a fully functional assault rifle.

Contrary to the claims that military-looking weapons are only designed to kill human beings, they are, in fact, the fastest growing segment of the hunting rifle market!

What About Machine Guns? Most TV commentators who decry assault weapons imply that they are automatic—that you just pull the trigger and bullets start flying. Not so. It has been illegal to buy a machine gun on the open market in the United States for more than 80 years. However, you can obtain one under special permit and there are about 250,000 in private hands.

Now here is something interesting: despite all those guns in private hands, there appears not to be a single instance of a legally owned machine gun being used to commit a crime throughout the entire 80 year period. This illustrates two things: (1) the bumper stickers have it right: guns don’t kill, people do; and (2) we can have reasonable restrictions on access to guns without banning them altogether. …

Are Guns Useful for Self-Defense? As it turns out, they are. According to research by renowned Florida State University criminologist Gary Kleck, guns are used between 800,000 and 2.5 million times every year in self-defense.

A study by John Lott and David Mustard found that handguns appear to help women more than men. While murder rates drop when either sex carries more guns, the effect is especially pronounced when women carry. Each additional woman carrying a concealed handgun reduces the murder rate for women three to four times more than an additional armed man reduces the murder rate for men.

Do More Guns Cause More Crime? In the typical Western movie, everyone has a gun. When they go into a bar, they start drinking. Then, they start insulting each other. Before long, they start shooting each other. It may be good theater, but it’s lousy history. Turns out, 19th century Dodge City was more peaceful than most American cities are today! Robert Heinlein explained why: “An armed society is a polite society,” he wrote.

Overall, some of the most heavily-armed states have very low violent crime rates and vice versa. Also, it appears that when the good guys are armed there is less gun violence. Research by John Lott shows that allowing citizens the right to carry concealed handguns reduces violent crime. In those states that passed right-to-carry concealed handgun laws, the average murder rate dropped from 6.3 per 100,000 to 5.2 per 100,000 nine to 10 years later—about a 1.7% drop in the murder rate per year for 10 years.

In states that enacted right-to-carry laws between 1977 and 1999, the overall occurrence of multiple-victim shootings dropped by a remarkable 67% with deaths and injuries from such shootings plummeting by 75% and 81%, respectively. And since 1997, two of eight school shootings were both stopped by citizens with guns (before police even arrived at the scene).

Remember that the theater in Aurora didn’t permit guns in the theater, which was why the only armed person in the theater was the shooter. The Columbine duo, the Aurora shooter and Sunday’s shooter — indeed, everyone who commits a crime with a gun — could not care less about gun laws, or laws period. Sunday’s shooter did not have a concealed-carry permit, and obviously could not have cared less about the laws about weapons.