Do more than the bare minimum on guns

This appeared in The Washington Post:

House Republicans have said they might be open to legislation that would ban the type of firearm accessory that enabled the Las Vegas killer to fire his semi-automatic rifles as rapidly as machine guns. Given Congress’s decades-long refusal to adopt any type of gun control, any step in the right direction probably should be encouraged. But lawmakers are kidding themselves if they think this gesture is enough to stem the weapons that make the U.S. an outlier for gun violence.

The revelation that the man responsible for the Las Vegas massacre used “bump stocks” to transform his weapons prompted Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to revive a push to ban the devices. But a better question is why focus solely on bump stocks while ignoring the danger posed when people are allowed to purchase and possess assault-style weapons that were designed for war, with the capacity to kill in large numbers. Citing the rising number of mass shootings as a “serious public health issue,” the American College of Physicians on Monday called for a ban on automatic and semi-automatic weapons.

When House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was asked if the bill banning bump stocks might be a slippery slope toward other gun restrictions, she answered, “I certainly hope so.” To which we say, amen.