The NRA's bogus argument against gun control.

In recent days, the National Rifle Association and its allies have argued that additional gun laws would not have helped avert the April 20 Colorado high-school massacre, because gun laws already on the books proved useless. Why propose "more gun laws" since the Colorado killers had broken "17 laws" anyway, asked House Republican Conference chairman J.C. Watts Jr., R-Okla. Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer ("18 gun laws were violated") and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., ("17 to 19 laws ... We have lots of laws on the books") echoed this construction. The NRA's latest tally, provided to Slate Tuesday, lists 20 laws allegedly violated in the massacre. But on closer inspection, the list evaporates.

A. Distractions. The first four laws cited by the NRA concern bombs.

1. Possession of a "destructive device" (i.e., bomb).

2. Manufacturing a "destructive device" (i.e., bomb).

3. Use of an explosive or incendiary device in the commission of a felony.

4. Setting a device designed to cause an explosion upon being triggered.

What do bomb laws have to do with gun laws? According to the NRA, nothing. "Incredibly, we've been asked if we would support an instant check on explosives purchases," NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre noted with disgust in a speech at Saturday's NRA convention. "Well, I don't have to tell you, we're not the National Explosives Association." So, why does the NRA include bomb laws on its list? To pad the total.

B.Tautologies. Nine other laws on the list concern the use of guns to commit the massacre.

5. Use of a firearm or "destructive device" (i.e., bomb) to commit a murder that is prosecutable in a federal court.

6. Possession of a firearm or "destructive device" (i.e., bomb) in furtherance of a crime of violence that is prosecutable in a federal court.