Democracy Dies in Darkness

Opinion The midterm results were a mandate for Congress to act on guns

By
November 14, 2018 at 8:10 a.m. EST
Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) lost her reelection bid despite sizable contributions since 2014 from the National Rifle Association. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
correction

This op-ed originally misstated that the National Rifle Association supported a background-check ballot initiative in Nevada. It opposed the initiative.

John Feinblatt is president of Everytown for Gun Safety.

The usual anguished questions followed the mass shooting late on Nov. 7 at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Twelve people, including a sheriff’s sergeant, were fatally shot by a young man with a Glock .45-caliber handgun, who then turned the gun on himself. But there was a fresh question in the aftermath of this slaughter: Would the midterm election results the day before lead to changes in U.S. gun laws, or would the National Rifle Association once again stand in the way of common-sense reform?