At last, a sensible, bipartisan compromise on gun safety | Opinion
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who spoke with a reporter on Capitol Hill in Washington last week, worked with Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut to develop a gun safety framework for legislation.The Senate’s bipartisan gun deal isn’t as comprehensive as this newspaper had hoped, but we also believe that the good should not be the enemy of the perfect.
Credit goes to the bipartisan leadership of Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, who, in the aftermath of brutal mass murders in Buffalo, N.Y., and Uvalde, managed to get negotiators on the same page on the gun safety framework announced over the weekend. States would have access to federal help in implementing red flag laws, a crucial early warning system, and the deal pledges increased spending on mental health treatment and school security.
The agreement does not enact restrictions on semi-automatic weapons, limit high-capacity magazines or expand background checks regardless of age. Politics, however, is the art of the possible. Such provisions would have ground talks to a halt and the nation would have missed another opportunity to address a national crisis. Cornyn signaled last week that Republicans would have opposed a framework that included these measures.