Today’s Senate ‘Bipartisan Gun Safety’ Proposal Is Just as Bad as You Feared It Would Be – Opinion

“We have two parties here, and only two. There is an evil party and a stupid party. … I’m very proud to be a member of the stupid party. … Occasionally, the two parties get together to do something that’s both evil and stupid. That’s called bipartisanship.”

M. Stanton Evans

Sunday, a bipartisan group of Senators agreed to an expanded package of ‘common sense’ gun control measures. The Vichy Republican contingent consisted of Pat Toomey (PA), Susan Collins (ME), Lindsey Graham (SC), Thom Tillis (NC) and Bill Cassidy (LA) under the leadership, if I may be so bold as to use such a word, of John Cornyn (TX). My colleague Bonchie covered the deal in Republicans Prepare to Play the Sucker After ‘Gun Safety’ Bill Is Revealed. Here’s how he summarizes the situation:

Here’s the thing. It is certain that there will be another mass shooting. Evil individuals will be able to access the weapons they need to perpetrate evil acts regardless of what laws we make. When that mass shooting occurs, Democrats are going to scream about how the last “gun safety” bill wasn’t enough and how we must “do something.” That “do something” will include confiscation and outright bans on common weaponry. They are simply allowing Democrats to have the power to grab the entire pie by compromising without setting a precedent.

It is unlikely that the left-wing drive to ban semiautomatic arms will end. Republicans that don’t recognize that are being suckers.

Now Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy has released more detail on what is included in the deal, and “suckers” hardly does the Republican participants credit for their duplicity.

NEWS: The deal is in. Today a bipartisan group of 20 Senators (10 D and 10 R) is announcing a breakthrough agreement on gun violence – the first in 30 years – that will save lives.

🚨NEWS. We made a deal. Today a bipartisan group of 20 Senators (10 D and 10 R) is announcing a breakthrough agreement on gun violence – the first in 30 years – that will save lives.

I think you’ll be surprised at the scope of our framework.

1/ Here’s what it includes:

— Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) June 12, 2022

2. Major funding will be provided to assist states in passing and implementing crisis intervention orders. Red flag laws allow law enforcement officers to temporarily seize dangerous weapons from individuals who present a risk to their safety.

New funding of 3 Billion USD for mental safety and school security, as well as money for community mental healthcare clinics.

4/ Close the “boyfriend loophole”, so that no domestic abuser – a spouse OR a serious dating partner – can buy a gun if they are convicted of abuse against their partner.

5/ The Federal Law against Gun Trafficking and Straw Purchasing is the First. It will make a significant difference in stopping illegal gun trafficking into cities.

6/ An enhanced background check is required for gun buyers under 21 years old. There will be a brief pause during the check. Only after the enhanced background check has been completed, can young buyers get their gun.

7/ A clarification of laws concerning who must register to be a licensed gun dealer to ensure that all legitimate commercial sellers have completed background checks.

8/ Will this bill do everything we need to end our nation’s gun violence epidemic? No. But it’s real, meaningful progress. The 30-year old log jam is broken, showing that Democrats as well as Republicans can come together and save lives.

9/ Thank you @JohnCornyn @kyrstensinema @SenThomTillis #Sen_JoeManchin@SenatorCollins@SenatorCollins atLindseyGrahamSC@ChrisCoons@TeamHeinrich for your amazing efforts to bring us to this point.

10/ It will be difficult to draft this law and get it passed through each chamber. We have a long way before this gets to the President’s desk. With your activism and help, it is possible. Failing is an unacceptable option.

I’ve already expressed my opinion about the cravenness of Republican officeholders who crawl over broken glass to appease Democrats; see Don’t Bother Me With Your ‘Common Sense’ Gun-Grabbing Ideas, I’m Not Playing the Game, and Matthew McConaughey Sold the White House’s Gun-Grabbing Agenda Today Just Like He Has for Years. In my opinion, the problem is less a case of needing more laws and more one of chickensh** prosecutors with a political agenda refusing to enforce the laws already on the books. If we passed a law making prosecutors criminally liable for future gun crimes of anyone not prosecuted for a gun offense, I’d go along with that plan.

Let’s look at the items on the list.

2/ Red Flag laws are a civil rights non-starter as far as I’m concerned. Giving a disgruntled neighbor, a deranged leftist relative, or a vindictive current or former “partner” the ability to have your weapons confiscated while you bear the burden of proving you are not dangerous is antithetical to our system of justice. The procedure, which goes beyond what the Kafkaesque method calls for is absurd. A judge will not deny a “Red Flag” order and risk that person killing someone with a firearm. For the same reason, they will never give your firearms back. This is just a cover for anti gun activists to intimidate and harass gun owners. This is a backdoor for anti-gun activists to harass and intimidate gun owners. We don’t support Republicans who vote in this way.

3/ I’m not convinced “community mental health clinics” do very much other than provide a sinecure purple-haired transgenders with an MSW degree. However, linking these clinics with a bill that supposedly prevents school shootings will force schools to send students to the clinics. If they don’t, their reason for existence will be revealed as a fraud (SPOILER ALERT: it is). Those mental health referrals will be made by the same people who teach Critical Race Theory, make your elementary school student experiment with “pronouns,” and groom them towards transgenderism and the remainder of the alphabet soup of perversions. If we want more “community mental health clinics,” then authorize them independent of any gun control law. Mental health professionals are quite insistent that the vast majority of shootings do not involve mental health. Evil, not insane is the issue.

4/ If you want to understand what “closing the boyfriend loophole” opens the door to, check out what goes on in Title IX sexual harassment/assault hearings in colleges. You are open to any woman who has been out with you once and wants revenge, even if you don’t have to cohabit. To protect yourself and your family, you should get a temporary restraining order. If you can’t qualify for a restraining order, then maybe vindictiveness, not personal safety, are your goals.

5/ Straw purchase are illegal already. It is against the law to traffic in guns unless you hold a Federal Firearms License. Without seeing an actual proposal, my best guess is that this will end the private sale of weapons, the so-called “gun show loophole” that the anti-gunners have been after for years.

6/ Other than the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), I don’t know of any other systems available for background checks that do not involve field investigators. It is unlikely that such a system exists, so this law may attempt to add another layer of surveillance for American citizens. NICS still has problems with inaccurate or incomplete data. I am at a loss of what an “enhanced” background check would include that isn’t a restraining order, a felony conviction, or a civil commitment order. Just joking, those “community mental health centers” will feature prominently here. I also don’t know how you make a juvenile record available for “young” buyers without making it available to nearly everyone and why only “young” buyers would be subject to such an “enhanced” background check

7/ What constitutes a “licensed gun dealer” is damned clear. This law is designed to ban the sale and gifting private firearms.

10/ Dude! You are now in Congress. Failing is an option.

All this is just eyewash. Besides funds for hardening schools, the whole plan is an exercise in “doing something.” Literally, nothing in this proposed bill would have done any good in any major shooting. It wouldn’t even have an impact on Saturday night in Chicago or LA, which is where the focus should be for anyone serious about ending firearms deaths. I’d done playing this game. Bonchie and I both stressed that this is not the end of the road, but only a beginning. This is just the anti-gun left getting Republicans to buy into the concept of silly measures that can’t work so that at some point in the future, the left can say we’ve tried everything, and they know there will be quisling Republicans to help them ban firearms.