I’m cautious about making ideological points so soon after a disaster. But this has to be noted.

The psychopath who shot up Utoya island was the only one with a gun. See, Norway allows civilians to have certain guns, but usually for hunting and sport shooting. In fact, possession of a handgun apparently has to be justified by some sort of sporting hobby.

To own a gun in Norway, one must document a use for the gun. By far, the most common grounds for civilian ownership are hunting and sports shooting, in that order. Other needs can include special guard duties or self defense, but the first is rare and the second is practically never accepted as a reason for gun ownership.

So once again the only people truly armed are the criminals. Law-abiding citizens who would use weapons to defend themselves and/or others are stopped from doing so.

But who cares, right? There’s always the police, right? About that:

The most recent news accounts indicate that the gunman shot up Utoya Island for an hour and a half before he was finally stopped. The SWAT team that wounded and captured him arrived at the island 40 minutes after they were called.

The police team had to be dispatched from Oslo. Then they had to gear up. Then they had to get a boat. Then they had to make their way to the island. Then they had to find the guy.

All while the suspect was shooting-up the island, leaving dead children in his wake.

Can anyone say with a straight face that legally-armed adults on the island wouldn’t have made a difference? He didn’t slaughter everyone at once. He had an hour-and-a-half. A well-placed shot could have stopped his slaughter. But once again, only police (located too far away) and criminals are able to carry handguns.

Pass more laws to stop the criminals from having guns? Guess what. A psycho trying to murder 80 children doesn’t care about gun control laws. That’s the least of his legal troubles. He’s facing upwards of 91 counts of premeditated murder. You think another gun control law would stop him? Please.

We’ve seen this time and time again. Our nation’s capital banned handguns. The crime rate skyrocketed. Why? Because only the criminals and inconveniently-located police had guns. Law abiding citizens were victims. Look even to the situation at Tucson. Arizona is pretty good on gun laws, but no one at the event was armed. No one could stop him.

The solution isn’t more laws to stop law-abiding individuals from defending themselves. The solution is encouraging more law-abiding and responsible citizens to defend themselves when terror/crime strikes.