Sensible controls

Several bills offer commonsense gun reform

It is past time to act. After a weekend of horrific violence, meaningful reform to our gun laws is overdue.

“We are a loving nation,” said President Donald Trump in a brief speech Monday morning that was unusual, and welcome, for its dignity and empathy. If he is right, if we are indeed a loving people, then we must find a way to balance liberties that sometimes seem in conflict — such as the right to bear arms and the right to live.

When the House of Representatives passed two bills in February that would require background checks on more gun sales and extend the wait time for each application from three days to 10, a Pennsylvania representative said he voted no because “universal background checks” would be a “universal annoyance to law- abiding Americans.”

Not so. A responsible supporter of the Second Amendment accepts the “annoyance” of a few more days’ wait in exchange for greater confidence that citizens with felony records or severe mental illness or restraining orders were being identified and denied.

These bills — H. R. 8 and 1112 — do not threaten the right to bear arms; they threaten purchases by people who pose a risk to others. Law- abiding citizens should welcome reforms that snag those whose crimes smear all gun- owners’ reputations.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell must move these bills forward. His colleagues, Pat Toomey, RPa., and Joe Manchin, D- W. Va., are ready to revive legislation they cowrote that would extend background checks to all gun sales.

Other measures are under consideration nationwide, including “red- flag” laws that would allow law enforcement or relatives to limit someone’s access to firearms if an increasing threat of violence is sensed. These make sense.

The moment is right for change. America has a president who has demonstrated some gumption with the National Rifle Association in his willingness to ban bump stocks. We have reasonable bipartisan bills ready to pass and a sorrowing population ready for relief.

In his speech Monday, Mr. Trump said, “We must honor the sacred memory of those we have lost.” To do so, we must act.