One evening a few years back, I was channel-surfing when I ran across a panel discussion of efforts to restrict children’s access to smut and violence on TV. One of the panelists was former New York mayor Ed Koch; another was the president of one of the major TV networks. The latter was quite agitated...

Brrrrrrrrrrrrt! Brrrrrrrrrrrrt! As the shooter sprayed his target, his gun ejected a steady stream of shiny spent brass cartridges. Millions of Americans watched this impressive demonstration on their TV screens, while the NBC reporter informed them that the legislation soon to be voted on by the House or Senate would ban “assault weapons.” In a...