The House of Representatives on Wednesday endorsed some of the most aggressive gun-control measures taken up on Capitol Hill in years. The 223-to-204 vote included 5 Republicans who joined most Democrats in backing the legislation. Two Democrats voted no. Of the five House Republicans voting for the bill — Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio), Chris Jacobs (N.Y.), Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Fred Upton (Mich.) — only Fitzpatrick is seeking reelection. Among Democrats, Reps. Jared Golden (Maine) and Kurt Schrader (Ore.) voted no; Schrader lost his campaign for renomination last month. Included in the bill are a number of troubling provisions: * Would raise the age to purchase semi-automatic rifles and shotguns from 18 to 21 in every state. This will restrict law-abiding and constitutionally protected adults from exercising their rights despite being eligible for military service where they would be putting their lives on the line to defend those same rights. * Establishes new regulations and rules that will dictate how Americans store their firearms and ban certain capacity magazines. Both of which will limit Americans’ ability to defend themselves. * And it will make it illegal for individuals to construct their own firearms, another step in the Left’s agenda to outlaw guns. The USCCB put out a statement last week strongly urging Congress to immediately specific action to curb this crisis of mass shootings in America. They said, "there is something deeply wrong with a culture where these acts of violence are increasingly common. There must be dialogue followed by concrete action to bring about a broader social renewal that addresses all aspects of the crisis including":

• mental health,
• the state of families,
• the valuation of life,
• the influence of entertainment and gaming industries,
• bullying,
• and the availability of firearms.

The order of these aspects of a solution is correct, with the exception of two items that were left out, hardening of schools & discovering why the police in Uvalde let children die. What the House has done is start at the bottom with the least impactful of the possible solutions. The only of benefit is to the Democrat agenda on guns and the 2nd Amendment, which is why it was passed with almost 100% of the Democrat majority. Hardening of schools is immediate & effective. It is eliminating schools as a soft target. It is not just arming teachers, though that can be an option. But, a better one is providing school 'guardians' ( volunteers, teachers, parents, administrators, parents, etc), armed and trained to secure the school at all events. This has been done in at least one Catholic diocese in Texas to protect against mass shootings in churches, which have also been highly publicized events there over the past few years. It has worked and it will work in schools, too. This should be action #1 and will make an immediate difference! Investigating teh police response will take longer, but is the 2nd step. Then we must commit to take on the other items on the above list, which will require more analysis to find appropriate solutions.  This 'deeply flawed culture' took decades to evolve, it won't be corrected overnight.  But, we have to start and start now!