Trib: A stalemate over guns

In a Lewiston Tribune editorial this AM, Marty Trillhaase comments:

“United we stand.”

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

“E pluribus unum - out of many, one.”

Blah.

Blah.

Blah.

When it comes to doing something about gun violence, the U.S. is so polarized you have to worry whether our experiment in self-government is failing.

Whether it’s 20 students and six teachers killed at Newtown, Conn., 14 more murdered at a San Bernardino, Calif., office party or the 49 killed and more than 50 wounded at an Orlando, Fla., nightclub, the response is always the same.

Nothing can be done.

It’s not as if anyone is talking about registering guns.

Nor is there a serious suggestion to ban military assault weapons. People even throw up their hands in defeat about limiting the capacity of magazines.

But how in the world has the country’s politics become so sclerotic that you can’t even make incremental steps?

How does restricting the sales of weapons to suspected terrorists weaken anybody’s Second Amendment rights? Ask the U.S. Senate, where Republicans such as Idaho’s Mike Crapo and Jim Risch voted against Democratic plans they considered too robust.

Net result: stalemate. More here.