No time to wait

T he American debate over gun control has been stalemated for some time. Back in the 1990s Congress was able to pass legislation requiring federal background checks on most gun purchasers and outlawing “assault weapons.” But in this century, each mass shooting sparks a brief discussion of measures that might be helpful in preventing the next one—and the discussion ends with nothing being done.

Maybe last week’s attack at an Oregon community college by a man who killed nine people and wounded nine others will finally break the impasse. It is past time to make guns less accessible to people who clearly shouldn’t be trusted with them. But if lawmakers refuse to take the needed action, the president has options to address the problem without them.

Those convicted or charged with felonies, drug users, unauthorized foreigners and those who have been committed to mental institutions are barred from buying guns. The background-check system serves to flag them if they make an attempt. But they can easily get around the ban by dealing with private sellers, who are not required to run background checks.

In 2013, after the Sandy Hook killings, the Senate fell six votes short of approving a bill to require this basic precaution.

You’d think the members who voted no would contemplate the horrifying series of mass shootings since then and change their minds. They should be forced to go on record once again: registering either a change of heart or another cynical vote to protect criminals and psychopaths.

If Congress still balks, there is another option, proposed Monday by Hillary Clinton. She wants to treat high-volume private gun sellers as the dealers they are. She believes this change could be made at the discretion of the president.

It’s a perfectly sensible proposal. Right now, anyone “engaged in the business” of gun sales has to get a federal dealer’s license and follow certain rules, like keeping records, paying fees and carrying out background checks. But the law excludes those who make “occasional sales” from their personal collections. In practice, the exception is an invitation to evasion and abuse.

That’s not the only good idea that Clinton has. She wants legislation to bar gun sales to convicted stalkers—some 12,000 of whom are free to acquire firearms despite the obvious risk they pose. She proposed ending a rule that says that if a background check isn’t completed within three days, the sale may go through without it. This rule made it possible for the accused Charleston, S.C., church shooter, Dylann Roof, to buy a handgun before his rampage, even though he had been charged with felony drug possession.

Some of Clinton’s proposals, like repealing the legal immunity granted gun-makers and dealers in a 2005 law and forbidding assault weapons, are not likely to go anywhere in Congress. But the others are the sort of targeted extensions of existing policy that open-minded voters and legislators can support.

Our leaders can act now. Or would they rather wait till the next round of slaughter?