WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: Tone-Deaf State Department Inflames Gun Owners’ Fears. “Overall, it’s an excellent example of the way a failure to understand the internal dynamics of American politics can leave Foggy Bottom out in the cold.”

Here’s a question for the Council on Foreign Relations, and anyone else who’s interested: If the State Department is this hamhanded with regard to American politics, what makes you think it’s any more deft in dealing with other countries?