The Senate’s Ill-Considered Gun Bill

Tuesday night, the Senate released the text of the 80-page comprehensive gun-control package that Senator Chris Murphy (D., Conn.), Senator John Cornyn (R., Texas), and a handful of others have put together behind closed doors. The Senate, by a vote of 64–34, proceeded to debate within the hour and, earlier today, advanced toward a vote on final passage.

Introducing the bill on the Senate floor, Cornyn said, “Since the shooting, my office has received tens of thousands of calls, letters, and emails with a singular message: Do something. Not do nothing. But do something.” And that, indeed, is what he has done. The resultant legislation is sloppy, non-responsive, and rushed, but it’s “something,” and “something” was all it was ever supposed to be.

The most significant changes contained within the bill pertain to eligibility. Were it to pass, it would disqualify any American with an unexpunged juvenile record from purchasing a firearm. Inexplicably — and perhaps by mistake — this rule seems not to be extended to possession. It would also expand the prohibition on Americans who have been convicted of domestic-violence misdemeanors from just those who are married to those who are in “a continuing serious relationship of a romantic or intimate nature” — although, again inexplicably, this prohibition lasts for only five years, after which time such convicts are free to buy as many guns as they wish as long as they have committed no new crimes in the meantime. (Under federal law, all domestic-violence felonies, and some domestic-violence misdemeanors, are permanently disqualifying for gun purchases, irrespective of the details.)