Yet Another Shot At Gun Control

Gun Control.  The constitution says we have the right to bear arms. It also says we are one nation under God.  Feels to me like both concepts are being challenged on a daily basis. And mostly to me it seems like they have no realy idea what to do but they need to do something so here we go again.  Does the latest page in Washington's attempt to convince us they know what to do convince you?

Well let's see, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republican Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania announced a bipartisan gun control deal Wednesday to close a gun show loophole and extend background checks to almost all commercial sales.

Manchin and Toomey, who are both "A"-rated members of the National Rifle Association, admitted that their views on gun control had evolved somewhat since last December's shooting spree by a lone gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, left 20 children and six adults dead.

The lawmakers said gun show sales would be conditioned on the same background checks and paper record-keeping requirements that are currently applied to commercial retail sales.

There will be some exemptions for sales between family members and short-term hunter-to-hunter loans, according to the plan.

With the Senate poised today to either start or kill debate on gun control legislation proposed by the White House and Democrats, Toomey said, "I have to tell you candidly that I don’t consider criminal background checks to be gun control. I think it’s just common sense."

Their deal runs contrary to the NRA's position, which believes expanded background checks will lead to a national registry of gun owners and the eventual confiscation of their firearms.

Nonetheless, the Manchin-Toomey plan might be acceptable to enough Republicans to thwart an attempt by 13 GOP senators to filibuster debate on gun control measures.

The deal also calls for the creation of a "commission on mass violence" to study what causes random mass shootings and how to prevent them in the future.

And the wheel spins on...