Senators Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) will be introducing legislation Tuesday to expand background checks.
The move comes on the very day that House Democrats plan to introduce similar legislation in “honor” of gun control proponent Gabby Giffords. The problem with the House gesture is that background check legislation would not have stopped Giffords’ attacker, as he passed a background check to acquire the gun he used in the attack.
Moreover, background check legislation would not have stopped a single mass shooting in the 21st century, as the attackers in nearly every attack acquired the guns via background checks. The exceptions are those who stole their firearms.
But Murphy and Blumenthal are advancing their gun control in the Senate, with the Washington Times reporting that Murphy hopes that is enough “political pressure” on Republicans to gain some traction.
Murphy said, “Political pressure is increasingly impossible for our colleagues to ignore.”
The problem with Murphy’s statement is that gun control was not a winner for Senate Democrats. Former Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) ran on it in the last election and lost, as did former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO). Republicans also picked up open seats–as in Tennessee–when the race was a clear match-up between pro-gun versus pro-gun control.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.