I still think we will never see meaningful Gun Control in this country…but as Ezra Klein points out, the Manchin-Toomey gun bill that just failed was not really meaningful Gun Control. It was, at most, a test to see if anything that mentioned firearms could get through a Congress that cares less about the will of the people than it does about the will of the N.R.A. I think it would have been interesting to see them try to pass a bill that said that if someone has a history of violence and murder, they can be limited to purchasing 1,000 rounds of ammunition at a time. It would have been fun to hear the speeches about how that's the first step to confiscating everyone's weapons.
And before Certain People write me: I am not in favor of banning all guns, confiscating all guns, taking them away from people who use them responsibly, etc. I just think there are laws that could be passed that wouldn't infringe on the Second Amendment but would make it more difficult for bad guys to acquire weapons and make it less difficult for the good guys to solve crimes involving weapons. I further believe that even the vast majority of gun owners in this country agree with that…but they aren't driving this debate.