As you might expect, the horrible news from Virginia was an ideological windfall for the European Left. I was en route from Paris when I first heard about the shootings in Virginia. I had turned on the BBC in time to hear the tail end of an interview being conducted with one of the Beeb’s American correspondents. The details still hadn’t emerged, of course, but she was wrapping up a rant taking aim at Americans who have resisted gun controls. One of my teenage daughters asked, “How can they do that, just exploit something like this?” I suggested she wait for the French press to catch up.

This morning, they did — and so did the rest of the Euro-press. Typical coverage: A Frenchman named Benoit Muraciolle who works for Amnesty International told Liberation that killings like those in Virginia were the fault of the NRA and, of course, the Bush administration. The headline reads: “The American government protects the arms industry.” Maybe Benoit ought to call one of the safety instructors at the NRA to make sure this story doesn’t backfire oin the French arms industry.

Spiegel has a round-up of more kneejerk Euro-drivel, not including its own – most of it created by journalists who don’t know (or didn’t care) that the Virginia Tech campus had already been disarmed by gun control.

All in all, another day of deep embarrassment for the Europrean media. Most of today’s reports are just the usual helium-filled celebrations of self-importance and sanctimoniousness at the expense of the misery of others. And then there’s somebody named Steve Busfield, who is (presumably) paid to edit the Guardian’s media site. Steve has nothing but questions. Apparently, he’s as outraged as he is uninformed, at least about American constitutional law (not to mention the entertainment business):

How long before we hear Charlton Heston talking about his “cold, dead hands”?..
Does America need Michael Moore to make another film to stop this sort of madness? Or is this sort of lunacy impossible to legislate against?

Three questions, three answers — and, I hope, some help for other Guardian editors fulminating about the U.S.: 1) Sadly, it will be a very long time before we hear Charlton Heston say anything. 2) No. But 3) you can’t actually legislate against Michael Moore making films. Freedom of speech, and all that.