Pandering politicians fail again on gun control

The gun control debate on Monday went as expected. The U.S. Senate did zilch to try to prevent future bloodshed in America, caused by people who shouldn't have firearms.

The National Rifle Association is partly to blame. So is the profit-loving-at-all-costs gun industry. But the biggest problem remains pandering politicians who won’t approve needed restrictions on Second Amendment “rights.”

These include mostly Republicans but also some Democrats who aren’t willing to step back, take a deep breath after an event like the killings of 49 people in Orlando and do something to improve the situation.

Senators Roy Blunt of Missouri and Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran of Kansas, all Republicans, dared not stray from the NRA/gun industry line on Monday. They blathered on about how they wanted to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists but then refused to support the strongest ways to do so. Roberts claimed he didn’t want to do something that would “infringe upon Second Amendment rights.”

That’s vapid reasoning in a country awash with 300 million guns, backed up by a Second Amendment that has been twisted into a blanket excuse for giving Americans easy access to weapons.

Groups re-energized by interest in gun restrictions say the next logical step is to oust members of Congress who stand in the way of progress. That would mean getting rid of Blunt in Missouri and Moran in Kansas, though both states have been too hospitable to loose gun rules.

Still, the conversation needs to continue in Congress. Stronger gun control laws need to be crafted. America must act to reduce the carnage by keeping firearms away from people who should not have them.

This story was originally published June 21, 2016 at 4:52 PM with the headline "Pandering politicians fail again on gun control."