TIME OUT OF MIND
How liberal is Time magazine? At least on guns, it's not making much of an attempt to hide its politics. This week's issue uses the Atlanta massacre as the hook for yet another anti-gun onslaught: a two-page summary of recent political victories for gun control, a five-page paean to the ATF and the Brady Bill, and finally a two-page essay by Roger Rosenblatt titled "Get Rid of the Damned Things."

Rosenblatt deserves some credit here: It is at least possible to argue with a straight face that banning guns would reduce crimes of violence, which is not the case with all the baby-step gun controls that are actually being proposed in legislatures. And Rosenblatt, unlike other anti-gun journalists, is willing to acknowledge that the example of Switzerland and the research of Gary Kleck and John Lott Jr. offer evidence that gun ownership can reduce crime and that gun regulations may increase crime. But his response is disappointing. There isn't one. Having suggested that his pet idea would not work and might backfire, he just goes merrily on his way. Evidently arguments aren't needed when the polls are on your side.

Not that he cites any. None of the stories in Time mention any movement in any poll to illustrate the "Nationwide Backlash" they trumpet. According to a post-Littleton Gallup poll, 58 percent of the public opposes the ban on civilian ownership of handguns that Rosenblatt wants. There hasn't even been much of a backlash in Colorado: Support for a permissive conceal-carry law in media polls there was statistically identical in February (66%) and in May (65%).

When the Washington Post wants to make the case for a backlash anyway, its method is to run story after story referring to "poll after poll" but never quite providing any specific findings. Rosenblatt deals with the problem of not having any evidence by implicitly positing a mystical bond with the public. He writes, "My guess, in fact, is. . . that the great majority of Americans are saying they favor gun control when they really mean gun banishment. . . . I think we're prepared to get rid of the damned things entirely-the handguns, the semis and the automatics." Well then. If a say-so is all it takes, why should we feel bound to look at any numbers? We think that when Americans say government is too big, it's because they really want to get rid of Medicare and privatize the Federal Reserve. Stay tuned for news of this groundswell.