Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Chris Murphy (D-CT) used an USA Today op-ed to ask President Trump to revisit gun control.
Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) also joined the op-ed, asking Trump to expand current gun controls on the American people.
The Sens. began the op-ed with a focus on the December 14, 2012, Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, pushing universal background checks for gun sales. Ironically, the Sens. did not mention that the Sandy Hook gunman stole the firearm he used in his attack, which means no amount of point-of-sale gun control would have prevented the shooting.
The Sens. pointed to the August 3, 2019, El Paso shooting and the August 4, 2019, Dayton, Ohio, shooting, in hopes of rallying support for background checks. They did not mention the guns used in both shootings were acquired via background checks.
Manchin and Toomey have unsuccessfully pushed universal background check gun control since early 2013. Their push would criminalize private gun sales began lifelong neighbors, decades old friends, and co-workers who have known each other for years.
The effort is hurt by the fact nearly every mass shooter of the past decade acquired his guns via background checks rather than private means. The exceptions are those who stole their guns, as the Sandy Hook attacker did.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.