Gun Control Hooey

The "we have to do something about guns" mood that swept the country after the Newtown massacre has inspired a group of senators to work out a "gun control" bill that will have no impact whatsoever  on America's gun culture and do nothing to prevent future school shootings.

A bipartisan group of senators has struck a deal to expand gun background checks to all commercial sales — whether at gun shows, via the Internet or in any circumstance involving paid advertising, according to Senate aides familiar with the talks. . . .

The agreement should secure enough bipartisan support to allow the Senate debate on an overarching bill that would expand background checks, make gun trafficking a federal crime for the first time and bolster federal funding for school security plans. Senate Democratic leaders have said they will permit senators of both parties to introduce amendments to the measure.

But the perpetrators of most American massacres got their guns in perfectly legal ways and would not be at all impeded by this requirement. Most street thugs use illegal guns that in places like Baltimore are about as hard to buy as crack or Oxycontin. The Senate bill is pointless posturing.

Notably missing is the one element of Obama's original plan that might have done some good, a ban on large capacity magazines. Even that, though, would have taken decades to make any difference, since there are already so many such magazines in circulation, but the NRA and its allies have blocked consideration of such a measure.

This bill is a stupid waste of time, and the media frenzy over the upcoming Senate votes is silly. Just because something is called "gun control" doesn't mean liberals should support it, and the fact that something is "bipartisan" -- the favorite word of praise in some quarters -- does not mean it is a good idea.