Common Sense or "Common Sense"

I looked a big deeper into some of the bills that Connecticut senator Chris Murphy voted against last evening in the Senate.  All four were gun control measures.  Murphy claims to want common sense measures passed to reduce access to guns for criminals, terrorists and the mentally ill.  Since Murphy voted against two of these bills, he must consider them not to meet the definition of common sense, right?

Let's look at the first bill considered.  This was offered by senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa.   The Grassley bill had three main parts.  First, it increased the funding for the agency to compiles the data for background checks used in connection with gun purchases.  This funding was specifically directed to making certain that the list is kept up to date.  Second, the bill had provisions that would have pushed states to send all of their records to the FBI with regard to felons and the other people currently barred from purchasing guns.  As of now, the background checks sometimes fail because the states do not send all the relevant data to the FBI.  Third, the bill strengthened and clarified the provision which bars those who are mentally ill from buying guns.

So what's wrong with that bill.  It looks just like the common sense measure that Murphy keeps talking about.  This morning, Murphy told the press that he was saddened and outraged that no legislation passed yesterday, but he never mentioned that he had voted against two of the four proposals and he certainly never told anyone why he voted NO on two.

Here's the reason:  Murphy really doesn't want to pass gun legislation; he wants to talk about gun legislation.  Murphy wants a political talking point; he really doesn't care about gun violence.  If Murphy really cared, he would have voted for Grassley's bill.