Trigger happy

The House has opened fire on a rare example of bipartisan progress against gun violence, pairing modest background-check improvements with a bill to help more people carry weapons at will.

All but 14 House Republicans joined six Democrats in voting to require concealed-carry permits to be honored across state lines, which would override stringent requirements in states such as California in favor of those with few or, in 13 cases, no rules. They did so on the day of the fifth annual national vigil marking the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, the day before two students were shot to death at a New Mexico high school, and two months after the nation’s deadliest gun massacre in Las Vegas.

Worse, the House majority attached the concealedcarry measure, a gun lobby priority, to a responsible measure motivated by the horrific shooting that took place a month after Las Vegas in a Texas church. That measure would encourage better reporting to the national background check system, which could have prevented the Texas shooter from obtaining weapons.

The assault on a smalltown congregation outside San Antonio tragically debunked the good-guy-witha-gun fallacy touted by supporters of the concealed-carry bill. Armed civilians weren’t able to save 26 Texas churchgoers, and guns generally cause far more violence than they prevent. The availability of guns correlates strongly with homicide rates across the country and globe, which makes Congress’ effort to undermine strong state laws particularly offensive.

Fortunately, the concealed-carry measure looks unlikely to approach the 60 votes it would need in the Senate, where this ill-conceived bill should be scuttled for good.