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Americans who try to track what is happening in Congress often complain about why they don't. …

This happens when a series of seemingly endless crises seem to have simple, at least partial solutions.

So why are they not just. …

The answer is almost never satisfactory. Obscure rules. Joe Manchin. The Congressional Budget Office’s report is still awaiting.

A good and terrifying example is the mass shooting. It's easy to raise your hands in despair-our legislators should spend more time avoiding disasters like the terrible school bloodbath in Michigan. The gunman was a student, and the gun he used was a gift from his parents. Mom and Dad were charged with manslaughter by an extremely frustrated prosecutor, but it is difficult to say whether this is effective.

Nevertheless, regardless of whether the allegations are established or not, it is clear that the parents are the problem. "Haha, I'm not angry with you. You have to learn not to get caught," Jennifer Crubley texted her son after a teacher found out that he was looking at ammunition online.

Jennifer and her husband James seem to believe that sharing weapons with their son is a good way to connect. According to prosecutors, 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley got a gun from a drawer in his parents' bedroom-Michigan is one of the most states that does not have enough regulations to require safe storage. Soon, four of his classmates died.

Guns that are often loaded are left around an alarming number of houses. Why didn't Congress pass at least one law requiring them to keep it secret?

Well, no one seems to have thought about it. "I really want to seize the opportunity," Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal said. Whenever a terrible gun problem arises, it’s a good idea to talk to Connecticut lawmakers. Back in 2012, a former student there killed 20 first-graders and 6 education jobs at a school in Newtown. By.

Many, many Americans remember the Newtown shooting-how they felt when they heard about it, and may confidently hope that this terrorist incident would mean the beginning of strong gun safety legislation.

No. Blumenthal said that so far, he is still "far from reaching" the 60 votes required by the Senate to overcome the Republican obstruction bill and pass a bill requiring safe storage.

Opponents don’t even bother to defend themselves. They say that if all the guns are locked, the owner may not be able to get the weapon fast enough to prevent a brutal intruder from breaking into their home.

"The only thing that can prevent bad people from holding guns is for good people to have guns," growled Wayne Lapierre, chief executive of the National Rifle Association.

This is Wayne's worldview. Or you can look at it this way: According to a study published in Preventive Medicine, about 1% of the crimes surveyed between 2007 and 2011 were actually the use of guns for self-defense.

At the same time, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, there were at least 322 accidental shooting by children in American homes this year, resulting in 132 deaths and 206 injuries.

Since Newtown, we have experienced hundreds of school shootings. The only real, serious response seems to be to teach our children what to do when classmates start to spray bullets. The United States is a world leader in teaching young people how to avoid and hide behind tables.

Over time, even the mild gun laws that the country manages to pass will be undermined, destroyed and dismembered.

Another Connecticut senator, Chris Murphy, has been working endlessly to make laws that require background checks on gun buyers. When it comes to weapons purchased from private sellers, there are big loopholes in the rules. "Earlier this year, I spent a lot of time trying to reach a compromise," he said. But Nada.

Last week, Murphy asked the Senate to unanimously agree to accept his background check bill. "I understand that the probability of success is very small," he said-exactly as it happened. But considering the tragedy in Michigan, he thinks this is the least he and his colleagues can do.

In fact, you can always do less. The Supreme Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of the Judiciary Committee blocked Murphy's request.

This setback is a very familiar story. As early as 1994, the Senate passed a ban on offensive weapons-those rapid-fire guns that play an important role in mass shootings. This is under the leadership of a senator, Joe Biden, who allowed a 10-year maturity date to be included.

Oops. Ten years later, offensive weapons returned to Capistrano like swallows. Arctic tern arrives in Greenland. Grey whale arrives at Baja. All attempts to get rid of them have ended in failure.

Well, at least Biden is back in power, ready to start the fight for real gun safety again. Unfortunately, so far, he has not even been able to get Congress to confirm the nomination for the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Or, it seems that a law has been passed requiring gun owners to store their weapons in a safe place.

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