A man originally from Uzbekistan ran a rental truck over people on a bicycle path in New York City on Tuesday, killing eight. He was shot by NYPD officer Ryan Nash after jumping out of the vehicle and brandishing imitation firearms. This was a tragedy and an outrage—and for New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, an opportunity for a cheap gun control plug.
“The NYC terrorist had a pellet gun and a paintball gun,” tweeted Kristof. “Good thing that in NYC he couldn’t buy assault rifles, or the toll would be higher.”
Pro-gun Twitter users were quick to rip Kristof’s argument to shreds, pointing out that the terrorist hadn’t needed guns in order to kill and wasn’t even a resident of New York, so the notoriously strict gun laws wouldn’t have affected him in the first place. But really, what use is logic when your only objective is to score points at the expense of the Second Amendment?
