Adding Nonsense to Virginia Tech Tragedy

I am unfamiliar with the ideological orientation of Mr. Ben Wattenberg and initially was impressed that he seems to propose that there ought to be no vituperation and overreaction to the tragic events that occurred at the Virginia Tech campus on the 16th April 2007. On the whole, all people in the US and outside (as I) agree about is that the perpetrator was not too well and that these events ought not to have happened. Thereafter, it all descends to sometimes puerile arguments based on absolute positions.

Having watched lots of TV debates and pompous punditry on the causes of the tragedy and listened to the simplistic answers being offered such as absolute gun control on one side against the equally tired arguments that guns do not commit homicide, I read the first paragraphs of Mr. Wattenberg's blog entry on the Washington Post in earnest. Appropriately named Think Tank Town, I was disappointed to see that while proposing the avoidance of self-condemnation, the author then thoughtlessly quotes another whose main publication was has not only been discredited but one who also sues Prof. Steven Levitt for disagreeing with his methods and conclusions. Perhaps Washington is not as much Think Tank Town as it is the incorrigible partisan’s hovel.

As an aside, I read the book, More Guns, Less Crime that Mr. Wattenberg appears so impressed with and had to revise my conclusions from it after some very serious errors were discovered in it. Nice theory but not empirically supported and the data is suspicious. Mr. Wattenberg should avoid the trap of proselytizing for now.