Far from regarding Barr as the extremist that many in Washington dub him, I sympathize with his views and admire his strong stance on drugs. But recently I've come to see him as typifying a dangerous kind of GOP hypocrisy. The conservatives to whom I turned to explain this contradiction have refused to consider any additional gun control measures whatsoever. If these laws haven't prevented school shootings, this line of reasoning goes, new measures are simply doomed to failure. Indeed, Attorney General John Ashcroft finds widespread use an argument for greater enforcement.
Laws do more harm than good.
The conservative line is that gun laws are counterproductive. And if laws don't work, this line of reasoning goes, let's abandon the fight. Ah, yes, from folks determined to abandon the war on drugs. The family is at fault. You can talk all you want about curtailing guns, but that's silly.