Things That Make You Go, "Meh"

(Editorial cartoon by Kevin Siers / The Charlotte Observer (July 27, 2012) and featured at McClatchy DC. Click on image to enlarge and then please come back.)

 Doyle McManus is a whole lot more upbeat than I am when it comes to congressional efforts at gun control.  His Saturday column salutes the quiet efforts of a bipartisan group of congress critters to shape a passable reform.  I guess he figures something is better than nothing.

Are they getting anything done on Capitol Hill? Yes, and you'll probably be surprised to hear where progress is being made: gun control.

In both the Senate and the House, bipartisan teams of legislators have taken meaningful steps toward passing new laws in the wake of the December massacre in Newtown, Conn.

The measures inching ahead aren't the high-profile proposals that have attracted the most attention. There's little hope that the current Congress will pass a ban on all assault weapons, and not much more that it will pass a ban on ammunition magazines with more than 30 rounds.

But there is a good chance that Congress will do two things: strengthen the system of background checks on gun buyers and toughen the penalties for illegal gun trafficking. In practical terms, those measures are probably more important than an assault-weapons ban, which wouldn't affect the millions of military-style guns already in circulation.   [Emphasis added]

 Oh, please.

There are ways around the problems, like buy-back programs (no questions asked) and enforcement programs, all sorts of possible work-arounds.  The problem is that our national politicians are owned by the NRA lock, stock, and barrell (as it were).

I'm tired of having to settle, of having to accept incrementalism, of having to just be patient.  Too many people are still dying, many from the same weapons which are useful only as collector's items until they're stolen or misappropriated by the deranged, drunk, or angry.

I'm too old for this.