“Better Gun Control”…yeah, like that’s a thing which really exists. Remember also, it’s still Gun Control, and you can’t polish a turd or pick up a turd by the clean end.
A week or so ago in a fit of “We gotta do something” the U.S. House came up with a very draconian gun control bill and rammed it through along party lines-even though there was no chance the Senate would pass it through. It has been called the “Wish List of the Left.” Of the five Republicans who voted for the Democrat measure, Adam Kinzinger (H-IL) was predictably on the list.
This week the Senate Republicans and Democrats are claiming they have their own “better” ideas on “We too gotta do something for crying out loud…it’s an election year! People are watching!”
On both sides of the Senate aisle, they are saying they have the 60 votes to push through a less severe gun control/mass shooter bill if they can put it all together before Congress goes on recess on July 3rd.
Some of the Senate items being bandied about include expanding background checks for 18–21-year olds who are trying to buy firearms and include juvenile records in this process as it could have prevented the Uvalde and Buffalo NY shootings. This is a rather bold legal move as all 50 states keep juvenile records quite segregated and it is difficult even for law enforcement to access those records if they occurred outside their own jurisdiction.
They are also kicking around making waiting periods longer at the federal level to take custody of firearms purchased by young people. This cooling off period is of course in place in every state, but on the hill, they are saying it would have changed the Charleston shooter’s church massacre because he factored in buying his guns and waiting the required three days before he went shooting.
They would also send money and grants to states to fund Red Flag laws and initiatives. The Red Flag laws have always been a double-edged sword with high possibility of being misused by angry people with an axe to grind against gun owners. If the Uvalde shooter had been turned in by his family, it is thought his evil could have been circumvented. The problem of course is they did not. Texas does not have a Red Flag law, but they do have laws which allow officers to take people into custody who pose a risk to themselves, or others and they can retain firearms too. New York has a Red Flag law since 2019 and did not prevent that shooter from buying guns and making plans despite some history with his family and school that in second sight may have qualified for Red Flag invocation.
The NRA has always opposed Red Flag laws, but they are now considering supporting such laws and protection orders based upon potential threat with no crime yet committed.
The Senators are talking about funding school and community mental health efforts. This is a terrific idea after the U.S. mental health system segments and HIPPA privacy keeps agencies from working together.
They would also set money aside for additional school safety resources. This is another obvious good idea like the 911 response to airplane hijackers. They did not stop flying, they hardened the target with better security screenings, training of airline employees and putting armored doors in the aircraft to seal off the cockpit. You can’t stop having public school, but you can provide them with more security resources.
An absolutely redundant idea being portrayed as “new” is to increase criminal penalties for third party straw purchases. This is redundant, because it is already a federal felony and every state in the nation has a law against it as well. You can’t squeeze much more juice out of that old idea.
Another rather undocumented measure is being advanced to close the “boyfriend loophole” in Domestic Violence cases. This odd bit is defined by the fact people in domestic violence cases where co-habitants or married partners can be prohibited from possessing firearms, but “boyfriends” or dating partners who do not live with or marry the victim but are convicted of Domestic Violence in other cases, are not prohibited from possession. State orders of protection are of course available against anyone to protect victims and potential victims. It is of course illegal to commit domestic violence or weapon aided aggravated assaults against anyone under state laws and any conviction can prevent firearm purchases at the federal level, but this so called “loophole” stretches the idea a bit out of shape.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnel today said he would support a bi-partisan Senate effort with these elements incorporated and ten other Republicans have been identified to include reoccurring spoiler Mitch Romney, who is up for re-election this year. Another well-known controversial figure Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) has not given any indication of her position in this matter. Out of the ten identified Republicans who would vote for such a bill, four of them are retiring at the end of this year.
Photo Credit: Teetoro.com
As always the Democrats LOVE LOVE LOVE a good mass killing. Especially if it involves a school and children as young as possible. without school mass murders the Democrats would have no platform for pushing their Marxist civilian disarmament agenda. They need those little bodies as props to pretend to care. It’s so obvious because after each tragedy they do everything EXCEPT the one thing that will work…. Provide schools with the same security the buildings they work at have.
We have plenty of money for Ukraine, pork projects galore, etc. but nothing for schools security ? just a “gun free zone” sticker on the door. Gee, why does this keep happening ? The article does an excellent job pointing out 9/11 and airports.
Sadly we have RINO’s in both chambers that will gladly go along with anti 2A bills. Adam Kinzinger is my Rep. He did a great job lying to the voters to get elected. He is now showing Pelosi what a good little cuckold he really is. Once he’s done fake crying at the phony Jan. 6th hoax he’ll get right back to attacking the rights of law abiding citizens.
Someone forgot to tell them an election is coming soon. Dems need one more reason for people to vote against them. It’s like they have a death wish since they stole the election from Trump.