The so-so compromise

But even this could do some good

It can't be called a Great Compromise. There's nothing in the bill about expanding background checks for those who want to buy guns. There's nothing in the bill to close loopholes when somebody wants to buy an AR-15 in the parking lot of a gun show. There's nothing in the bill that would use technology (read: trigger locks, etc.) to keep the bad guys from using guns in a bad way.

So call it the So-So Compromise. But still, compromise it is. And the bill before the U.S. Senate just now would do some good.

You've probably heard that a few senators have drafted legislation that would keep those on the No Fly List from buying firearms easily, which sounds like just about the most common sense thing that could happen in Washington, D.C., these partisan/Election Year days. But even common sense isn't common when the topic is guns in America.

The bill, drafted by Susan Collins of Maine (a Republican, but not mad about it), would ban gun sales to about 100,000 people, mostly foreign nationals, on two lists. First is the No Fly List that most of us are aware of. The other list is something the FBI calls the Selectee List, which sounds something akin to an Almost No Fly List. Folks on that list are given extra scrutiny when they check in at the airport. (Some Washington-watchers say this bill would affect about, oh, 2,700 or so Americans.)

The measure would also alert the cops when somebody on terrorist watch lists in the last few years tries to buy a gun. That might have kept the Orlando shooter from arming himself. He had been on a watch list in 2013 and 2014.

Senator Collins' bill would also allow those denied a gun at the gun shop the chance to appeal to the courts. And, ah, there's the rub.

Some senators oppose the bill because it could infringe on the Second Amendment, sorta. The argument is being made that once in a while an innocent civilian ends up on the No Fly List by accident, mistake, or because they share a similar name with a bad guy. And how's that innocent civilian supposed to get a gun, huh?

Answer: Through the courts.

But by then, the aginners say, the damage will have been done. The Second Amendment will have been infringed.

A Republican senator from Wisconsin, Ron Johnson, wanted to amend the bill to require stronger proof from the government before denying a gun buyer. He wanted probable cause that a terrorist act was about to be committed. Or as Sen. Rob Portman (R, Ohio) put it when explaining his support for the amendment: "It would require the government to persuade a court there is credible evidence that a person is a terrorist threat before blocking the gun sale."

Did you get that? The person on the No Fly List should get the gun first. Then the case can go to the courts.

We're not sure whether to laugh or cry. While the attorneys are preparing briefs for their court times, the suspected terrorist could be shooting up the city. But at least he couldn't catch a plane for his getaway.

If some innocent American has the same last name as a suspected terrorist, well, these things happen. It shouldn't take more than one visit to a courtroom to set the matter straight. Then the next time he wants to buy a 12 gauge at Gander Mountain, he'd have documents to show his legitimacy. For the record, Senator Collins' bill would pay attorney fees for those mistakenly put on these watch lists.

The whole bill sounds all too sensible. Even to those of us who consistently express fondness for the Second Amendment. After all, as Mr. Justice Robert Jackson once noted, the Constitution is not a suicide pact.

Let's do this simple thing. No fly, no buy.

And show, for once, that Washington isn't completely unworkable. And unreasonable.

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