Editorial: On guns, a little progress counts

Gun violence in America is a monumental problem, and viewed against that backdrop, the legislation now outlined in the U.S. Senate as having a chance to pass seems minuscule.

The individual proposals that have the support of the critical minimum of 10 Republican senators needed to come to a vote fall well short of needed curbs on semiautomatic weapons. They don’t go far enough in trying to stop the mass shootings that have swept the country for decades.

Still, incremental progress is far better than no progress, which is what the U.S. Capitol has delivered for too many years. The framework for new laws — the bills themselves have not yet been written — would break the logjam. This could convey some hope to the electorate that Congress can, in fact, grapple with these very tough issues.

And taken together, the compromises unveiled Sunday by Senate negotiators could improve safety in schools and other public spaces that have become targets, and address the very real need for mental health services. They would provide incentives for states to pass their own “red flag” laws preventing gun sales to buyers who pose a risk.

Perhaps most importantly, they would make for more careful background checks in particular for those shooters who are under 21. Two of the most recent and most heinous attacks, in Buffalo, N.Y., and Uvalde, Texas, involved gunmen in this age bracket.

This matters to every state, even those that, like Hawaii, already have strict gun-control measures on the books. The U.S. Supreme Court soon could strike down a law in one such state, New York, which now requires added scrutiny and a special license for those who want to carry a gun outside their home. Hawaii has rigorous curbs on carrying guns as well.

The long-term inaction on Capitol Hill up to this point has put the onus on states to enact their own laws. These limited but important state efforts must continue, despite legal challenges mounted against them.

For example: New York lawmakers passed, and on Monday the governor signed, new laws prohibiting the sale of semiautomatic weapons to those under 21, tightening access to body armor, closing various loopholes, expanding the list of people who can file “extreme risk” protection orders and requiring tighter inventory controls for gun dealers.

In Hawaii, in the wake of the horrific shootings, Gov. David Ige signed a law reinstating a firearms inspection requirement that had been ruled unconstitutional in federal court here. The rule applies to “ghost guns” that lack serial numbers, guns brought in from out of state and those transferred between private individuals.

While the case is on appeal, lawmakers here had rightly decided that the safety enhancement of in-person gun inspections more than outweighs the added steps and longer wait for owners registering their weapons.

On the congressional package, it helps that one of the prime negotiators is Texas Sen. John Cornyn, responding to the drumbeat for change after 19 children and two teachers were killed in the Uvalde school last month.

There is hope that the backing from a senator in a state with such a legacy of Second Amendment support would win over more votes for these modest proposals, from both sides of the partisan divide. His partner is Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, campaigning for reform since the Sandy Hook schoolroom slaughter of first-graders 10 years earlier, in Newtown, Conn.

This will still be a heavy lift in an election year, with pro-gun groups already pushing back hard. It should not be. Advocates would be wise to underscore that these measures would not seize guns or even prevent the legal sale of any firearm type.

It could make gun ownership safer, however, and that should be a universal goal.