In Norway, the right to possess a firearm is not protected by constitution or even law.
Anyone who wishes to purchase a firearm must obtain a license from the government and then prove to the government some "genuine reason to possess." You must not only sound convincing that you will use the weapon for hunting, target shooting, collecting, personal protection, etc., but then the category of gun you wish to purchase must fall in the officially recognized government uses. Criminal and mental background checks apply, a firearm safety course is mandated and any acquisition, possession and transfer must be registered with the government.
And still, some guy walked into a "gun-free zone," just like last time, and shot 80 people.
But a Norwegian police chief can revoke a person's gun permit at any time. Anyone who buys or sells guns must have a license from the state, which can only occur when permission from the charged government ministry is granted. Failure to abide by the law is punishable by fines or imprisonment.
And all that gun control did what today?
Zero.
Ammunition, by Norwegian law, must be kept locked up – guns also. Police can demand to see and appraise your lock-up for legality and will then offer helpful safety tips on how you, the subject of the state, can improve compliance. Firearms transport in Norway happens only when guns are empty – it must be so because someone wrote a law worthy of a Nobel.
And despite the fact that all the previous noble laws didn't prevent the Norwegian terrorist attack, we will now be inundated with calls for more panty-waist-hysteria laws from noble liberals who feel noble when they propose liberally.
But if a nation has gun laws 10 times as restrictive as the United States already – and if those laws are no obstacle to an evil person who wishes to massacre 80 kids – then where is the logic in believing that by making individuals even more defenseless that utopia will result? Utoya is liberal utopia.
Liberals are piously intoning that the shooter "belonged to a gun club" without explaining that one pretty much has to belong to one in Norway unless you want to be defenseless. You must present your club membership to the Norwegians before they will let you defend yourself. Ah, the liberal impulses that gun-club ownership must bestow! The shooter did attack the government's oil ministry, which is something only a liberal would do, so perhaps there was an effect?
But we should note that main effect of the bombing was in the public street. If Western liberal logic is to be consistent, this ought to move the "Brady Bill" people to ban metal containers. The core of the liberal argument is that inanimate objects are evil and all people are basically good. So, without evil vessels that can contain high pressure, there can be no such thing as a bomb. For counterpoint, if we follow the Norwegian liberals, we should demand that anyone wanting to purchase a container first join a container club where the proper use and inspection of containers can be inculcated. In Norway, the skeet clubs differ from the World War II gun clubs, so one's purchase is restricted based on whether one's desired gun matches one's club membership. We wouldn't want those skeet shooters messing up a target-shooting expedition! To combat the bomb threat in Norway, Norwegian liberals should define now different clubs for Tupperware and non-stick pots with lids. And threaded pipe should be outright banned.
I know what you are thinking. If only the shooter had taken a safety course! Oh, wait. He probably did. You have to if you own guns in Norway. But what if, instead, he had his weapon registered and had a background check? Surely the registration card could leap from his wallet or the government office and wedge the trigger at the last second so the gun couldn't fire!
The point is this: Layers of government bureaucracy do not impede evil whackos who want to murder 80 school kids from murdering 80 school kids. The only thing that could have, or should have, stopped the horror is a gun in the hands of a well-trained camp counselor. But the shooter, being a highly trained Norwegian gun club member, knew that leftist camps were one of the few places in Norway that were voluntary gun-free zones. He fully expected the place to be totally unarmed. Judging from the death toll, it's clear he was correct.
The moral of the story?
No one ever massacres armed citizens, and red tape never stops massacres.
Please, America, let your teachers, camp counselors and college professors carry firearms so that when a mind-numbed Norwegian nut job comes to a theater near you, he only gets off one shot – not 80.
Andrew Longman is a Christian and an applied scientist.