And it looks like there is now a little bit better chance that a gun bill could actually be passed by Congress. A couple of senators (Manchin and Toomey) have reached an agreement on the background checks part of the pending Senate bill. And they think that a majority of the Senate could accept this compromise, including at least enough Republicans to get it passed. The agreement is in the form of an amendment which will water down the background checks a bit. It will rehire background checks on gun sales, including all internet and gun show sales, but it excludes the sale of a gun by a private citizen (not using the internet or at a gun show).
Personally, I think this still leaves too big a loophole to avoid a background check when buying a gun. All a criminal or dangerously deranged person needs to do is check the newspaper classifieds and go buy their weapon from a private person (many of which could care less who's buying their gun as long as they get what they want for it). But it may be the only thing that could get through Congress this year.
This is what passes for compromise these days though. Congress thinks that doing a little toward solving a problem is better than nothing. For me, it is just another instance of putting a band-aid on a problem that needs much more serious care (just like was done with health care reform -- where they put some patches on a broken system, instead of throwing it out and going to a single-payer system that would not only cover everyone, but do so at a cheaper price).
That's my opinion. What's yours? Is the watered-down gun bill a good bill -- or just the only thing that could squeak through Congress this year?
NOTE -- The NRA has come out in opposition to the watered-down Senate gun bill. But that is to be expected. They don't really represent gun owners anymore. They simply shill for the gun manufacturers these days, and those gun makers don't want any kind of law that might reduce the number of guns they could sell -- regardless of who is buying those guns.
I think that instead of going for a 'watered-down' bill, the Senate should have gone for the 'whole enchilada' and demonstrated to the American people which senators were willing to step up to the plate and which were cowards. Then we would know who is really on the side of the NRA and then we would have a reason to vote for or against them in the next election.
ReplyDeleteI am depressedly beginning to think that nothing effective will be done until EVERY family in America has suffered from gun violence. Unfortunate large majorities seem too stupid to see past the corporate rhetoric to insist upon real necessary changes. It is a giant strawman argument....that ANY change to gun laws completely illegalizes ANY gun ownership.
ReplyDeleteI honestly do appreciate the band-aids. It's not enough; healthcare with copays people still can't afford and no background checks for the easiest and probably most common place for those who need most to be denied a gun can get one. But if the band-aid can save one life, it's doing some good. The only problem is if it's saving one for every hundred that need protected it's only a 1% success rate and not cost effective for our tax dollars.
ReplyDeleteI fear that in the very near future most Americans will die from either gun violence or health conditions they STILL can't afford to get treated. Congress needs to learn to give a damn first, THEN they can work on learning what compromise means and what is acceptable compromise and not just a fancy new way to screw us.