The Los Angeles Times editorial board is asking Americans to urge their Senators to support gun control.
The publication is specifically focused on the two gun control bills passed by the House of Representatives in early March. One of those is the universal background check legislation, put forward by Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA), and the other is an expansion of the review period for extended background checks, introduced by House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC).
Thompson’s legislation would put in place the kind of background checks Colorado has had since 2013, even though those checks did not prevent the March 22, 2021, Boulder attack. New York has also had universal background checks since 2013, yet 50 people were shot during a seven-day period ending just over a week ago.
Clyburn’s legislation is designed to extend background check reviews from the current length of three business days to a proposed length of ten. It becomes 20 days if those reviewing the background check are still not confident they have examined all pertinent records after the first ten business days have passed.
The LA Times editorial board refers to these controls as “sensible gun reform measures,” and asks Americans to urge their Senators to support them.
They suggest the NRA is in a weakened condition, thereby opening the door to the possibility that securing more Second Amendment restrictions might actually be possible. The board sees this as the moment in which the gun control lobby might score a win.
The LA Times editorial board did not highlight the other gun controls being pushed by Democrats. Those controls include banning the sale and possession of firearm suppressors, prohibiting the sale and possession of “high capacity” magazines, and limiting Americans to a one-handgun-a-month purchase limit.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News 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 at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.