Chicago Tribune, July 23: In a world without budget constraints, the F-22 fighter jet would be a nice weapon to have. It’s swift, stealthy and superior to anything a potential enemy can throw at us in aerial combat.

But ours is not a world without budget constraints. In a time of intense fiscal pressures, Washington has to give priority to defense systems that are vital, and the F-22 is not one of them. Taxpayers should be pleased that Tuesday, the Senate went along with President Barack Obama and deleted funding for more of these aircraft.

But the administration encountered strong resistance on Capitol Hill, where the F-22 has been popular for reasons having nothing to do with national security. It has subcontractors in 44 states – giving innumerable members of Congress an incentive to keep the dollars coming. So even though the administration won this vote, we would be surprised if it’s the last word.

Los Angeles Times, July 23: The nation dodged a bullet Wednesday. In a rare defeat for the powerful gun lobby, the Senate routed an amendment that would have federalized concealed-weapons laws by forcing all states that issue such permits to gun owners to honor those granted by other states. States with strict rules regarding concealed firearms, such as California, essentially would have had their laws nullified by states with lax rules. Yet so spineless have gun-control advocates in Congress been in recent years that there was no guarantee common sense would trump political cowardice. It was a nail-biter, but the amendment failed on a 58-39 vote.

The measure, introduced by Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., had inspired a significant degree of ideological distortion as conservatives fought hard, ironically, to trample states’ rights.

Standards for concealed-weapons permits vary dramatically by state. Some deny them to people with drunken-driving convictions and substance-abuse problems. Texas and Florida even issue permits to nonresidents, including to people who fail the background checks and requirements in their home states. Needless to say, if the Thune amendment had passed, today would be Christmas in July for gang members, organized-crime syndicates and drug traffickers.