Will closing this loophole really have any impact gun violence? This effort seems like a combination of wishful thinking and political/symbolic posturing.

Perhaps we should focus on more effective strategies such as putting more cops on the street.

These measures would be about as effective, and about as enforceable, as laws that ban marijuana, abortions, and copying CDs. If your legislators spend any time on this at all, they are ripping you off.

the best way to control guns would be to require all gun owners to license their weapon with the government and take a safety course the same way it is done with cars. I also think it would be a good idea to require that all new guns be "fingerprinted" before sale, i.e. a spent round stored in a database. This way you can tie guns to people and bullets to guns. That's gun control.

I always like to ask NRA members if they're "card carrying". When they proudly say they are, I ask them if I can see their card. When they open their wallet I take a look and say, "Wow, that is pretty cool -- hey is that your driver's license?" "Yeah" "So before you can drive you have to tell the government who you are and put a number on your car? Has the government every tried to take your car away for any other reason than because you broke the law?" I love doing that.

I think the real solution to gun control isn't banning things or trying to take things away from people. The real solution is to effectively manage it. In the end that would be a better solution and it would allow people and guns to co-exist in a way that they don't now.

that said, the gun show loop hole should be closed because even though it won't solve the problem that doesn't mean it isn't a good idea.

ah sure more cops. And maybe we should have Martial Law and earlier curfews.
How about more soldiers on the streets, its just as affective. Look up about the war in Rio d Jenairo (police vs thugs brazil)or better yet see documentary in special features from that movie 'City of God' and you will see having more cops, more guns, more shootouts are not going to stop the violence. Gun control would work, and help the cops. If it doesn't so be it, everyone can go to their local pawn shop and prepare for the mass violence supposedly in their paranoid heads that is going to come.
side-Jello Biafra where are you , when we need you? Same old argument ,I know, just want to refresh the point home thats all.
Gun control was lost because we all gave upright wing GOP winning the battle in court.
Now its worth the fight now that we have House and Senate don't we? Or are we afraid to lose the so-called rube repug vote? And isn't Charlton Heston dead?

Those licensing suggestions are really excellent. Unfortunately, the NRA is a powerful lobby that never, ever listens to reason.

So, I'm sorry, did the recent spate of gun violence involve assault weapons or firearms purchased at gun shows? I mean, I seem to recall reading that one of the killings involved a revolver, which is about as far from an assault weapon as you can get.

Just-- you know, I don't want to ask that you actually show some causality here or anything. I'm just wondering if there is any.

my whole take on the gun show loophole is that it won't magically solve the problem -- and there may not be a direct causal link to any of the recent gun violence -- but that doesn't mean it isn't a good idea. just because locking your front door won't guarantee your personal safety doesn't mean that you should leave the door off its hinges.

Charles speaks for reason. Thanks for the tip, and a tip of the ol' wranglers hat to ya.

If we shut down the gun show loophole, how will al-Qaeda and other fundamentalist wackjobs get weapons they're not supposed to have?

Think of the poor terrarists them neocons love and have a heart, fellas!

IEDs don't make themselves, after all!

why again is it that Chopp continues to be elected, unopposed?

Because we love him. Now, if you don't like it, run against him.

...and prepare to get your ass handed to you.

To shamelessly rip off Molly Ivins, I'm not anti-gun, I'm pro-knife. At least in a confrontation with someone wielding a knife, a person has a fighting chance to escape with their life.

Sputnik, comment 4:

I've seen 'City of God', but I don't see its relevance to this discussion.

Even though more cops seems at odds with boilerplate liberal values, there are loads of crimes stats from right here in the USA that suggest more street cops => less crime. For example, the primary statistical driver of NYC's transformation in the 90's was an increase in street cops, despite what Giulliani would have you believe.

Interestingly, the number of street officers in the Capitol Hill / Central District area has actually decreased from where it was in the 90's as more money is spent on middle management and "homeland security". Personally, I'd rather my tax $ go to street cops.

@12 - well, yeah, but that's a given.