Gun Background Checks: Fact or Fiction?

The gun-control debate in the Senate will now shift from prohibiting the sale of certain firearms to restricting criminals and the insane from gaining access to firearms. Prepare yourself to hear a lot about background checks and the figure 40 percent.

In an odd gesture of self-disarmament, Democrats abandoned “banning” assault weapons, or military-style semiautomatic rifles. The legislation sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) would have prohibited only the sale of certain kinds of new rifles, leaving millions of identical weapons in private hands. That flaw, one of several that would have undermined the effectiveness of the proposal, is now irrelevant, though, as Feinstein’s bill never gained traction with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and other Democrats from pro-gun states.