The Republican Party likes its myths.  Tell a nice anecdotal story (which doesn’t even have to be true), pretend that it expresses a universal truth, and watch it take root in the base so that there is no pressure to fix what is really broken.

Myth #1 — Gun control rules in Democratic cities have not prevented those cities from having high homicide rates.  This one is less myth than simple distortion.  First, most larger cities have Democratic mayors.  So it’s hard to find Republican-controlled cities for comparison.  Second, it’s universally true (not just an American fact) that increased population (and increased population density) means more crime.  When you look at crime rates and violent crime rates, the cities with gun control actually fare relatively well.  Third, in the U,S, legal system, it is very easy to evade city restrictions.  You just need to travel to the suburbs  to get your gun.  And the open borders mean that there is no check at the city line to prevent the importation of guns into the  city.  Lastly, the penalties for violating a city ordinance are relatively minor.  In short, local gun control ordinances appear to have some effect, but such ordinances are no substitute for federal legislation.

Of course, passing anything through Congress is hard.  One proposal that I have seen that might bear some fruit is the concept of breaking down the current proposals into separate bills.  When you have a complex bill, it is easy for the Members from the Party of GnOP to say they are voting no based on one provision.  If you make them vote on each proposal separately, they will have to take a stand on each proposal rather than relying on the most controversial provision to justify killing the bill.  While the Democrats probably have the votes in the House to pass the full program, they don’t have the votes in the Senate.  Making forty-one Republicans have to vote against each of twenty or thirty proposals that have the support of 70% of the American voters might just move the needle in some swing states and districts. Continue Reading...