The Brady Bunch has sent out yet another call to action. And yet again they are trying to capitalize on Va. Tech. Their three main points are:

1. We must comprehensively and effectively apply the Brady background check system, so no one who we want to prohibit from buying guns can legally buy one.
Effective background checks would have stopped the Virginia Tech killer from buying these guns.

2. We must reduce access to weaponry that is not for sport and not for self-defense.
Had Congress and the President not allowed the assault weapon ban to expire, the killer may not have been able to obtain the high capacity magazines he used in his assault.

3. We must give our police and federal law enforcement the tools and resources they need to fight gun crimes, including illegal gun trafficking and corrupt gun dealers.
New technologies, such as microstamping and other ballistic identification systems, might have allowed authorities to identify the Virginia Tech shooter earlier, before his second, most deadly, rampage.

So, if we take them one by one:

First, there was an effective background check on the perp. The problem is that his committment was voluntary and not involuntary. If it had been involuntary, he would have been a prohibited person and the background check should have caught him.

Second, the Glock Cho used is a perfect choice for self defense. He did not have high capacity magazines, which in the case of Glock, have 30+ rounds. Cho's were standard capacity, which he obviously changed out a fair number of times given the total number of rounds fired. If Brady really wants to allow self defense weapons, their suggestion would not affect access to the Glock or its magazines. Cho's other weapon, a .22, is a sport firearm and access would not be affected by 'improvements' Brady is alluding to.

Finally, Cho started his second shooting spree within two hours of the first. Cho would not have been identified much less found within that time period if everything Brady wants had already been in place. To believe otherwise demonstrates a grand scale ignorance of police work and the effectiveness of their own suggestions.

Taking the microstamping specifically: Cho went to the trouble to file the serial numbers on his firearms: a felony. An extra ten minutes with a file would have removed the microstamping capability. If he had not done that, it is unlikely that the police would have retrieved a readable bullet, taken it back to a police office with a microscope, looked up the results, and found Cho before he started shooting again.

So, what would have saved the public from Cho?

1. A judge checking a different box on a form causing an involuntary committment.
2. People onsite with the mindset and preparation to take Cho out.

In the end, a person bent on mayhem and suicide can not be stopped. The best we can do is be ready and minimize the damage they are able to inflict.

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