Our Fixation on Universal Background Checks is Killing Us

Responding to intense pressure following the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell indicated his chamber will consider background checks legislation when it reconvenes in September. More than 200 House Democrats are asking McConnell to vote on H.R. 8, a universal background checks bill passed in February with just eight Republican votes. It seems like a remarkable and rare opportunity to take meaningful federal action to reduce gun violence, but the truth is less promising. H.R. 8 is marred by a noxious anti-immigrant…