Guns don't kill people...

... idiotic lawmakers do.

It's neat that anyone can be chosen to represent their fellow citizens through the electoral process. Or maybe "neat" isn't the right term, so much as... um... dangerous.

A news item today made me wonder if there's a way we can require that anyone registering to run for office take an intelligence test. That way, we could make it just a little tougher for raging lunatics like Arizona state senator Karen S. Johnson to get their wack-job ideas turned into law.

After reading the first few paragraphs of this New York Times article about legislators who want to "allow people with a concealed weapons permit... to carry their firearms at public colleges and universities," I double-checked my calendar to make sure that it wasn't April Fool's Day already. Nope, still early March. Apparently, this is not a joke. And, it turns out that 15 states are considering legislation to make it easier for people on college campuses to pack heat.

This is, of course, a response to the string of shootings at Virginia Tech, Northern Illinois, and, unfortunately, too many other colleges and universities. But the argument that there are too many people being killed by guns, so let's make sure more people have guns? Yeah, that logic escapes me.

Maybe it would be a deterrent to would-be shooters if they knew that their would-be victims were armed? Right, except did anyone notice that the shooters don't much seem to care if they lose their lives? And doesn't it seem like these are folks who aren't exactly running down a checklist of pros and cons before they go insane and start shooting up classrooms?

Maybe Ms. Johnson's heart is in the right place? Would you rethink that notion when you read about her initial plan for the Arizona law? Reports the Times: "She initially wanted her bill to cover all public schools, kindergarten and up, but other lawmakers convinced her it stood a better chance of passing if it were limited to higher education."

So thank you, Karen S. Johnson. Now that I've resolved to never step foot on a college campus in Arizona again, I feel safer already.