Bump stock ban, with a twist + Trump’s odd populism + A congressman falls | The Sacramento Bee

Our take

Editorials

Banning bump stocks a no-brainer after Las Vegas shooting. What else you got, Congress? A bill by Sen. Dianne Feinstein would ban “bump stocks,” which can make semiautomatic rifles fire like illegal machine guns. The NRA says it supports a ban, but is tying it to “reciprocity.” That’s unacceptable.

Jack Ohman sees Donald Trump’s trying to clean up again. Catch the paper towels here.

Columns

Andres Oppenheimer: Donald Trump’s populism mixed with incompetence failed Puerto Rico. Like Hugo Chavez, Trump placed himself at center stage and made it look as if he alone was giving aid to Puerto Rico.

Op-eds

Peter Drekmeier: California farm exports help agriculture, but at what cost? We all need food, and should appreciate the farmers who put it on our plates, but we don’t have enough water to expand acreage for export crops.

Sen. Ben Hueso: Jerry Brown can help bring a wireless revolution. If Brown signs SEB 649, wireless companies could meet consumer demand and provide good paying jobs in California.

California Forum

Sasha Abramsky: We may never know what inspired the Las Vegas shooter. But why did we make it so easy for him?

David Townsend and Chris Tapio: Why Sen. Dianne Feinstein needs to run again in 2018.

Joe Mathews: All the best Californians want single payer health care, but I keep having questions. What’s ailing me?

Hannah-Beth Jackson and Noreen Farrell: Campuses need to protect students against sexual violence. Here’s how California can help with that.

Eileen Thomas: There’s a lesson in Sacramento’s spike in poverty, and it’s more global than you think.

On behalf of The Sacramento Bee’s editorial board, welcome to The Take, your opinion-politics newsletter. Please sign up for it here.

Taking leave

The Take doesn’t generally focus on wayward members of Congress from Pennsylvania who resign under clouds. U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, a Pittsburgh-area Republican, is an exception. His fabulous career came to crashing halt when The Pittsburgh Post Gazette detailed how he abused his staff and urged a woman with whom he had an affair to get an abortion, “despite his anti-abortion politics.” Ah, consistency, or lack of it. I spoke with Murphy in 2014 as he pushed an important effort to overhaul federal mental health care law. For that, he deserves credit, though his initial bill sputtered in part because Rep. Doris Matsui, D- Sacramento, resisted it. Last last year, Congress approved a modified version which will increase funding modestly for mental health care and, perhaps, help more mentally ill people get care. That’s good. But then Murphy joined Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. Among Obamacare’s most important provisions include coverage for mental health care and addiction services. Consistency is tough.

Their take

Heather Heying, Wall Street Journal: Last month, Evergreen State College made it clear that they wanted two of its scientists gone—my husband, Bret Weinstein, and me, despite our stellar reputations with the students they claimed to be protecting. First, they came for the biologists.

Raleigh News & Observer: Sens. Richard Burr and Thom Tillis are hardly among the most prominent members of Congress. But in one area, both truly stand out. They rank near the top in Congress when it comes to getting help from the National Rifle Association. NRA groups have spent nearly $7 million on behalf of Burr. Tillis has gotten $4.5 million in help. Topping this list should be an embarrassment to both senators. It’s certainly an embarrassment to North Carolina

Miami Herald: Democrats and some Republicans say they want to discuss a federal law that would ban the manufacture, possession or sale of “bump stocks,” an add-on device that can effectively turn a semi-automatic rifle into a weapon that fires as fast as a fully automatic gun.

San Francisco Chronicle: Now “WALK” and “DON’T WALK” have been deemed hopelessly binary and pedestrian. Under a bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown this week, anyone crossing a California street will have the benefit of a far more intricate set of legal instructions.

Santa Rosa Press Democrat: Ford and GM this week announced that they’ve finally figured out that the future is electric. As the car industry changes direction, California must focus not on mandates but on creating an environment in which electric vehicles can succeed. We will need charging stations, a better energy grid and programs to ensure that electric cars are affordable to all drivers.

Dallas Morning News: A new phrase associated with news stories that seem fake is, “Not The Onion.” The Onion is one of the longest-running satirical news websites. However, it was not satire when we learned the IRS awarded a multimillion-dollar no-bid fraud prevention contract to Equifax. Yes, Equifax.

Syndicates’ take

Michael Gerson: The GOP desperately needs the charisma of conviction. Sen. Bob Corker has essentially described the commander in chief as a danger in need of management. The doctrine of containment, evidently, must begin at home.

Eugene Robinson: In the White House, blind respect is not a two-way street. One of the most appalling aspects of the Trump presidency is the sycophancy he requires of the officials who serve him.

Dana Milbank: A narcissist’s guide to helping others understand it is all about you.

Mailbag

Gun owners, like car owners, should have to carry insurance and operating your gun without a license and insurance should subject you to penalties. – Molly Amick, Chico