Guns: Action, Not Words

The Senate passed a dandy resolution this week, praising Sunday’s Million Mom March and calling for immediate passage of long-stalled measures that would help cut gun violence.

That’s lovely, but the feel-good motion--foisted on reluctant Republicans by Democrats after hundreds of thousands of mothers rallied in front of the Capitol to push Congress into doing something, anything, to stop the violence--means absolutely nothing. It is nonbinding, and even at that, the resolution just squeaked by on a 50-49 vote.

Here’s what the Senate and the House need to do now:

First, pass the modest gun safety measures marooned in conference committee since last summer. These include provisions to expand background checks at gun shows, require trigger locks on handguns, prohibit the importation of high-capacity ammunition clips and bar violent juveniles for life from owning guns. The Senate approved these measures last year, but the House did not. The conference committee appointed last summer to iron out the differences between Senate and House versions of the legislation has met exactly once. For Congress to stall longer is to, in effect, look the other way as criminals troll gun shows and curious toddlers play with their parents’ unlocked guns.

Second, pass the modest licensing and record-of-sale requirements introduced last week by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). Her bill would apply to all purchasers of handguns and semiautomatic firearms that take detachable ammunition clips. It would ensure that gun owners are trained in the care and use of their firearms by requiring them to pass a written safety test; it also would require background checks.

The measure would greatly improve the ability of law enforcement to trace guns used in crimes by requiring that all sales and transfers of the firearms specified in this bill be recorded through a federally licensed dealer.

Feinstein’s bill would set up a federal system but allow states to opt out if they adopt measures at least as stringent. To be sure, Feinstein’s bill faces almost impossible odds in the current Congress, especially if members can’t even agree on comprehensive background checks or trigger locks.

Mom-and-apple-pie proclamations are nice, but meaningful action to cut gun crime and violence will speak much louder than words.