Durbin Says Manchin/Schumer/Toomey Might Have Stopped Navy Yard Shooter From Getting Firearm

Based on what we know, (and admittedly the media has done a terrible job of getting the facts straight), the Navy Yard shooter legally purchased his shotgun after undergoing a background check at the firearm retailer.  So, this comment by Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin's reported in The Hill make's absolutely no sense:

Durbin, who is Reid’s top deputy, suggested on Tuesday morning that a measure to expand background checks — which the Senate defeated in April — might have prevented the shooting.

From my recollection, Manchin/Schumer/Toomey was to make sure all (or almost all) firearm transfer's went through a background check.  The Navy Yard shooter did submit to a background check and passed.  So, how exactly might Manchin/Toomey/Schumer prevented him from getting his firearm?

The shooter had several run-ins with the police in the last 10 years, none of which were prosecuted, or at least charged at a level that would make him a prohibited buyer.  Given these facts, even if Manchin/Toomey/Schumer had passed, it would have had no impact on the shooter's ability to purchase his firearm.  Second, it appears that the shooter had mental health issues - again, to my recollection, something not addressed by Manchin/Toomey/Schumer.  Charles Krauthammer discussed the mental health issue last night on Fox News.

For some reason, Congress does not want to address the mental health issue although that was supposed to have been one of the issues addressed after Newtown.  The administration and their allies in the Senate decided to focus only on gun control and when they lost that battle in April, moved on to other unrelated issues.

Jim Geraghty this morning pretty much summed-up why the renewed talk of gun control after Monday's murders rings particularly hollow:

I begin rather skeptical of most gun-control proposals. The ones that are pitched in the aftermath of mass shootings are particularly cynical, as they often attempt to regulate circumstances unrelated to the shooting.

And that is exactly the problem with all of this talk of background checks.  The shooter went through a background check and passed.  Nothing in the proposal from this past spring would have changed that.