Mark Kelly, husband of Gabby Giffords, appeared on “The National Lead” on Wednesday to push for expanded background checks. As Kelly is a gun-control proponent, this news by itself is hardly surprising given that’s an oft-repeated mantra of the anti-gun crowd. But his reasoning leaves a little to be desired.
Kelly cites Noah Harpham as a good example of why more background checks are needed. In 2009, with a clean criminal record—save for a 2003 speeding ticket—Harpham purchased three guns. The 33-year-old, who had an ongoing struggle with alcohol addiction, would go on to randomly kill three people in broad daylight on Halloween before being fatally shot by police in Colorado Springs.
So how could Harpham provide any justification for background checks when he passed a background check? Unfortunately, it seems that facts and rationale factor very little into arguments presented by anti-gunners.
