Dirty Harry

Last December, the Newtown shooting nudged America out of its gun control inertia, the gravitational pull of tragedy overcoming the friction of the National Rifle Association. New York limited the capacity of ammunition clips to seven rounds. Colorado markedly expanded background checks. President Obama has championed similar federal legislation, including an assault weapons ban in his package.

Scarcely 100 days later, though, Congress has done nothing, and the blame rests largely with Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid. In drafting a bill for the consideration of the full Senate, Reid stripped out the assault weapons ban promoted by Obama, reasoning that it had no chance of passage thanks to the filibuster.

There is reason to doubt the sincerity of Reid’s pragmatic murmurings. For one, it is because of him that major legislation still needs the backing of a supermajority. As the Senate commenced its new session, a few members of the Democratic caucus, frustrated with the chamber’s paraplegic pace, took up the subject of a filibuster overhaul. One proposal would have mandated filibustering senators to speak on the floor for the duration of their legislative blockade. Another would have put the onus on obstructionists, allowing the majority to end debate on a bill unless the minority garnered 41 votes on a filibuster motion. Cutting a deal with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the majority leader scotched both ideas, opting for modest changes that have not shocked the body out of its paralysis.

Then there’s Reid’s history. In 1993 and 2004, the senator from Nevada voted against the assault weapons ban. Two years afterward, he supported a bill that insulated weapons manufacturers from a bevy of negligence lawsuits. In 2010, he went to a shooting range with Wayne LaPierre, the gun lobby’s executive vice president. As the political clout of Nevada’s rural sector has waned, Reid has shifted to the left. Nonetheless, the senator’s previously cozy relationship with the NRA is highly disconcerting, raising questions about his commitment to advancing gun control.

Hopes for new legislation remain alive. Last week, Obama delivered an impassioned plea for action that refocused attention on the matter. And in an attempt to counter the NRA’s might, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is funding a $12 million advertising blitz that frames firearms safety in a persuasive, culturally competent manner. At the State of the Union, the president declared that the Newtown victims and their families deserve a vote. But they won’t get their vote as long as Obama fails to win Reid’s.