Greets and saluts from the NYC metro area.

Manchin and Toomey’s plan on background checks is weak tea. It falls short of universal checks (something that LaPierre and the NRA supported way back in 1999 - when LaPierre testified on their utility and benefits before Congress):

We think it is reasonable to provide mandatory, instant criminal background checks for every sale at every gun show. No loopholes anywhere for anyone. That means closing the Hinckley loophole so the records of those adjudicated mentally ill are in the system.

This is not new or a change of position or a concession. I have been on the record on this point consistently, from our national meeting in Denver to paid national ads and position papers, to news interviews, and press appearances. But I have repeatedly emphasized that this administration must stop illegally keeping records of lawful gun buyers.

In fact, it is the media’s well-kept secret that the NRA was an early architect and supporter of the National Instant Check System now in place. Chairman McCollum knows; we worked with him on Instant Checks, gosh, more than a decade ago now.

We think it is reasonable to provide for instant gun checks at shows just like at gun stores and pawn shops. But what is unreasonable is how the proposed Lautenberg legislation ignores the 250,000 prohibited people, like felons, who walked away from gun stores, instead of being prosecuted for a Federal felony for trying to buy a gun.We think it is reasonable to prevent all juveniles convicted of violent felonies from owning guns for life. What is unreasonable is how Lautenberg can prevent your law-abiding son from inheriting his grandpa’s shotgun collection because Lautenberg classifies him as a gun-show dealer who must be Federally regulated.

We think it is reasonable to prosecute more than just two dozen thugs last year for putting illegal guns in criminals’ hands. What is unreasonable is that Lautenberg considers legal guns in private hands subject to intrusive Federal regulation even in they privacy of your home.

Note that the NRA’s objections are based on a lack of prosecutions of the rejected applicants (ignoring that some could have been underage attempts). Prosecutors need funds to prosecute, and this is one area that hasn’t gotten sufficient funding. Moreover, state laws may provide for greater penalties and some can be prosecuted quicker and easier in state courts. But a sale prevented is a gun that didn’t get into the wrong hands - prosecution or not.

Now, it wouldn’t have prevented Newtown. But that’s not the only gun violence to occur on a daily basis. Universal checks would have prevented the Columbine massacre - both the shooters there were under age and would have been rejected in a background check at gun shows. It’s possible that it could have prevented Virginia Tech if methods were in place to get mental health warnings included in the check process.

The background check wont eliminate all gun crime. It is likely to reduce it - the degree to which is something that is debatable.

But the NRA today doesn’t want a debate. They don’t want anything - even a check that isn’t creating permanent government databases all while scare-mongering to goose sales even further.

It’s also telling that while there’s a consensus that the Toomey-Manchin plan has Senate support, the House GOP is going to balk and attempt to water down the plan even further, if not attempt to kill it outright. That’s despite all the polling that suggests that universal checks have overwhelming support.