THE BURNED OVER DISTRICT

I am posting the entire NY Times editorial because it says it all.

Where Congress Is Soft on Criminals

House sycophants of the National Rifle Association are aiming this week to hobble the federal government’s power to revoke the licenses of rogue gun dealers who arm the underworld. A shameless proposal would replace existing law with wrist-slapping penalties and an impossible definition of “willful intent” that would hamstring efforts to close lawless marketeers.

The rhetoric of the approaching debate will undoubtedly invoke sportsmen’s rights, but the real issue is the rights of sociopaths and terrorists to make future purchases at their friendly local AK-47 dealer. The House proposal, in fact, would have stopped federal agents from ever revoking the license of Lou’s Loans, the Pennsylvania dealer that sold battlefield weapons to one of the co-conspirators in the 1993 assault on the World Trade Center.

What makes this gun decontrol measure truly brazen is recent data from the Justice Department, which reported a startling jump of nearly 50 percent last year in gun crime victims, to 477,000. No one can yet say whether this is related to an earlier N.R.A. “victory” — the decision of the Bush administration and Republican leaders in Congress not to renew the 10-year-old ban on the sale of military assault weapons to civilians. Any analysis is hampered by another gun lobby “victory” — Congress’s barring the federal gun control agency from searching out criminal trends in its own records of weapon sales.

Without a hint of irony, the looming debate is showcased as part of the Republican majority’s “American Values Agenda.”

Representative James Sensenbrenner, the Wisconsin Republican so alarmed of late about threats from the immigrant tide at the nation’s borders, shows no comparable concern about armed thugs shooting people in the inner cities. “Crybaby!” snarled Mr. Sensenbrenner in excoriating the mayor of Milwaukee for testifying on behalf of more, not less, gun control.

And if you want more details and other news on this topic, do pay a visit to The Gun Guys.