New: Nick Gillespie on the Navy Yard Shooting and the Case Against Legislating by Crisis

In the wake of Monday's deadly shooting at Washington, D.C.'s Navy Yard, politicians and pundits have called for new gun control measures. But the worst time to pass new laws, argues Nick Gillespie, is in immediate response to a crisis or terrible event.

Whether it's truly awful drug laws pushed in the wake of high-profile celebrity deaths, national-security measures rushed unread through Congress after the 9/11 attacks, or transformative bailouts to the banking and auto industries essentially cobbled together over a long weekend, laws should be the product of serious and dispassionate deliberation. We feel with our hearts, yes, but we should govern with our minds.