Small step on gun reform in Congress could pave way for more

Sunday night, a bipartisan group of 20 senators announced they’d agreed on a framework for new regulations that enhance background checks for gun buyers younger than 21, make it easier to confiscate guns from potentially dangerous owners, and fund school initiatives to prevent gun violence.

These steps are not nearly strong enough to serve as a proportional response to the rash of mass shootings we’ve seen in the past few weeks. They will not salve the grinding heartbreak such killings have fueled for the past few decades, nor allay the fears that have been seeded about the future.

Yet they must be passed because they are common-sense additions that might help, a bit. Most importantly, the habit of putting pragmatism and the increased safety of our nation ahead of the culture war surrounding guns has to start somewhere.

In this case, it’s starting with 10 Republican senators, none of whom are standing for reelection this November, willing to take a first, potentially politically dangerous step. They’re joined by 10 Democratic senators facing pressure from their own party to force Republicans to pick a side on a tougher bill.

The changes the coalition is backing would:

• Provide the time and ability for enhanced background checks of gun buyers younger than 21, that would look at juvenile justice and mental health records.
• Provide funding to help or entice states to enact and enforce red-flag laws that allow for temporary confiscation of guns when owners pose a danger to themselves or others.
• Broaden a ban on domestic abusers owning guns to include those who abuse dating partners, not just spouses or parents of their children.
• Provide funds to enhance physical security in schools.
• Fund increased mental-health screening and treatment services in schools. 

The proposal, which President Joe Biden says he’ll sign if it passes both chambers, was announced on the anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub killings in Orlando six years ago. Omar Mateen killed 49 people that day, a modern-day record for mass killings in the United States that stood for just 16 months, until Stephen Paddock killed 60 concertgoers in Las Vegas.

Proposals made by Biden in a prime-time address to the nation 10 days ago — to fully reinstate the assault-weapons ban, limit high-capacity magazines, boost background checks for private sales, remove immunity for gun manufacturers, and require safe firearm storage — unfortunately do not have enough support in the Senate to pass. Nor do restrictions passed by the House last week — including prohibiting semi-automatic weapons purchases for those under 21, banning high-capacity magazines, and subjecting all buyers of home assembly “ghost guns” to full federal background checks.   

Polls show a tremendous overlap in what gun regulations Democratic and Republican voters would support, but politics have too often obscured common ground that should be highlighted.

Now it’s time to enact what sensible improvements we can, to stage the push for more.