By Jim Shepherd

Last week, California Senator Dianne Feinstein said that there would be no big moves to reinstitute the "Assault Weapons Ban" because the "time wasn't right". That, however, doesn't mean the "assault on your weapons we want to ban" has died down on the liberal side of the question.

On Sunday April 12, CBS News' Leslie Stahl delivered one of Sixty Minutes' vaunted hard-hitting journalistic pieces dealing with the fact that gun and ammo sales were booming. A longtime CBS stalwart, Stahl set her story at a Virginia gun show where a variety of gunshow attendees were seen buying guns and ammo at a near frantic pace.

During that narrative, Stahl did a good job of explaining that all dealers making sales at gun shows had to submit to the same FBI background checks as any other federally-licensed firearms dealer. In fact, I found myself thinking that maybe Stahl's longtime Boston media bias had finally diminished to the point she could be evenhanded on a topic that makes liberals blanch - firearms.

Apparently, it couldn't.

By Jeff Knox

There is a funny story about a woman who rowed her husband's boat out for a little solitude. While she was enjoying the fresh air and sunshine a Park Ranger pulled up alongside and asked to see her fishing license. When she told him she didn’t have one he said that he was going to write her a ticket because, even though she was just sitting in the boat reading, there was fishing equipment in the boat. The woman replied that she wanted to charge the Ranger with rape then because, even though he was just sitting in his boat talking, he had all of the necessary equipment.

Unfortunately, in the real world, the woman's quick wit would probably not get her out of the ticket and might cost her more charges, but there is a truth in this story that deserves careful consideration. There is a dramatic difference between having tools and having intent. While this truth should apply to fishing gear or guns in parks, it is also one of the fundamental flaws in the thinking of hoplophobes and their attacks on individual rights – that having tools and using tools is the same thing.