“A Sequoyah County man was arrested Monday after his eight-year-old cousin was killed in an explosion over the weekend,” 5newsonline.com reports. “Brandon Martin, 22, faces a manslaughter charge after Sheriff Ron Lockhart said he fired a high-powered rifle at an outdoor stove full of the explosive material Tannerite in Liberty, Okla. The stove exploded and critically injured Jonathan Phelan, 8, who was struck by flying shrapnel. That boy died early Monday morning after being taken to a Tulsa hospital by a medical helicopter.” Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Now what? Well . . .
It’s only a matter of time – and not much of it – before the antis hit the ‘net to exploit this tragedy to further their civilian disarmament agenda. The combination of youth, firearms and fatality will bring out the anti-gun bloody shirt wavers as sure as Michael Bloomberg brings out his bodyguards at civic events.
No doubt left-leaning politicians will issue a call to ban Tannerite, or at least designate the material a federally regulated explosive. Once again, an irresponsible act (by both the shooter and family members who attempted to cover-up the crime) will be used as an excuse to punish responsible Americans. Hopefully not. But I wouldn’t bet against it.