Crapo, Risch should support Senate gun control deal. Something is better than nothing

Buffalo, Uvalde, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Phoenix.

Boise.

All have been shattered by the sound of gunfire in recent months, which is business as usual in 21st century America.

Barely a day passes without a mass shooting. More common than the days with no mass shootings are the days with several.

One of the clearest examples of congressional dysfunction has been the inability to do anything about this problem. Beginning with the Columbine shooting in 1999, a horrifyingly familiar pattern has repeated itself: Mass murder. Outrage. Inaction.

We again find ourselves in the second stage of this pattern. There is some chance, if Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch do the right thing, that we don’t have to yet again pass to the third.

The outlines of a bipartisan deal — utterly insufficient but more than nothing — have been announced in the Senate. So far, neither Crapo nor Risch have signed on to this gun deal, as milquetoast as it is.

They should.

It’s hard to overstate how mild the measures proposed in the bipartisan bill are.

• On their 18th birthday, a kid couldn’t buy a beer or a cigarette, but they could still purchase an assault rifle. The bill would only impose slightly higher background checks for those between 18 and 21.
• The bill would end the ludicrous “boyfriend loophole” that the Idaho Legislature has actively protected in recent years, voting down legislation by then-Rep. Melissa Wintrow to close it. Currently, if a man commits domestic violence against his wife, he loses his gun rights. This makes a lot of sense because a lot of women are killed with guns by men who were previously violent toward them.
  
  But if a man beats his girlfriend, he can keep his guns. The bill would close this loophole.
• The bill would provide states with incentives to adopt reg flag laws, which establish a procedure to temporarily take firearms from a person, if a judge finds that they are a threat to themselves or others.
• Finally, the bill would include money for better mental health treatment and school safety.

The bill does not include more serious steps outlined in the U.S. House’s proposal, such as raising the gun purchase age, limiting high-capacity magazines and instituting buybacks. But since that bill garnered only five Republican votes in the House, it’s clear it won’t get past the Senate filibuster.

Being crafted by arch-conservative Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the Senate bill contains nothing that would negatively impact gun rights. There are no serious political consequences for Crapo and Risch. Risch isn’t up for reelection. No general election challenger has ever come within 20 points of Crapo. They have no excuses.

To score a run, you’ve got to make it to first base. The bill is likely to make some small differences around the margins — and when it comes to guns, this means saving a few lives. So even though the bill is grossly insufficient, it deserves Crapo and Risch’s support.

They should join the 10 Republican colleagues who’ve lent their support to the deal. We’ve sat on our hands for 23 years as children get slaughtered. Let’s not make it 24. Let’s at least start the process of eliminating this horror from American life.