The Founders Feared a Tyranny of the Majority, but What We Have Is a Tyranny of a Fanatical Minority

Are the Senate’s negotiations over a gun safety bill stalled? It depends on who you read. Over the weekend, as reports came in, things were looking grim. But here at the start of a new week, Punchbowl News (subscription required) is reporting that they’re back on track after almost getting derailed. Naturally, this new story is made possible by congressional staffers stepping up to spin an optimistic scenario to a newsletter that they know was headed toward a lot of important people’s inboxes around seven o’clock on Monday morning, so why would they say otherwise?

As weak as the components of the forthcoming legislation seem to be, I’d still love to see a deal emerge from these talks. For one thing, it would be a real blow to the National Rifle Association and the larger gun lobby. Also, the mere fact of passing an actual law would help the party of government and hurt the party of nihilism. Still, I’m a skeptic. We’ve seen this before. After a mass shooting, something that seems like momentum for a deal emerges. The press gets all excited. The NRA says nothing and bides its time, undoubtedly reaching out behind the scenes to the senators it knows it owns lock, stock, and barrel, so to speak. The deal unravels. The minority wins.