The Senate Gun Deal Is As Close To Nothing As Possible

The paragraphs above are from The New York Times. They tell us what is in the Senate plan to address gun violence.

Many politicians and cable news pundits are praising the Senate group that came up with the "compromise". I can't be that generous. To me, the plan is as close to doing nothing as it is possible to do.

Look at what is NOT in the plan:

* It does not close the loopholes in the background check law.

* It does not ban the sale of assault-style weapons.

* It does not raise the age limit for buying an assault-style rifle.

* It does not mandate the creation of red flag laws.

* It does not ban the sale of high capacity ammunition magazines.

Frankly, it does nothing that could be truly effective in preventing gun violence. Even if this plan is passed and signed into law, anyone will still be able to buy any kind of gun they want (using the current loopholes in the background check law).

It does provide some money to boost school safety (whatever that means), but ignores the fact that most mass shootings take place outside of schools -- in churches, theaters, synagogues, stores/malls, nightclubs, and anyplace else considered a soft target. 

It provides money for states to create red flag laws, but does not mandate they do so. I expect most states with a GOP government will not do so.

It does provide more money for mental health. This needed to be done, but will have little effect on gun violence. As much as Republicans want to blame gun violence on the mentally ill, it's just not true. Most of the mentally ill are not violent, and most mass shooters are not mentally ill.

The only thing this plan provides is false hope. It gives the appearance of doing something (so politicians can claim they did something), but it will not save many lives (if any).

Shakespeare said it best in MacBeth: "Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing."