Gun Lobby Needs Something Better to Do

You have to pity the National Rifle Association; it's running out of things to lobby for. “You can only legalize carrying a concealed weapon in church once,” observes Gail Collins of the New York Times . Many state legislatures have stretched gun-friendly laws to the limit, but the NRA still needs to prove its worth to donors, who give $200 million. This year's push? Legalizing concealed weapons in places like daycare and school buses.

“People, do you think there is a loud public outcry for more guns on school buses?” Collins asks. No, this is about legislators proving their gun bona fides. Why else pass the kind of “Stand Your Ground” laws that let Trayvon Martin's killer go free? We need to give these guys something to do, so Collins votes that we pass a ridiculously restrictive national gun law. The NRA would drown in donations, and “legislators in red states would be kept out of other mischief for a decade.” Click for Collins' full column. (More Gail Collins stories.)