DN Editorial: FINALLY, A LIMIT? Gun control could take baby steps, thanks to Sen. Toomey

AN IMPORTANT victory in the efforts to curb gun violence - as well as efforts to bring a little sanity to Congress - could be in the offing Thursday. The Senate will take a procedural vote on gun-control measures, including one bipartisan effort crafted by Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) to require background checks on all commercial-firearm sales, including those at gun shows and on the Internet.

The lack of such checks has created a big loophole for countless guns to be bought and sold to anyone - including criminals and people with mental illness. The measure explicily forbids the creation of a national gun registry, an idea which, despite the fact that it has never been discussed, has nonetheless kept the gun lobby up at night.

That this background-check measure originated with Toomey, a conservative, carries a great deal of weight, and he deserves praise for being a profile in political courage, especially since both he and Manchin both get high marks from the NRA. And although we disagree with Toomey on his stand on assault weapons and high-magazine clips, his actions on background checks is an important acknowledgment that gun issues can be considered across a continuum; it's not necessary, nor especially practical, to take an "all or nothing" approach that the gun lobby espouses.

The background check is no slam dunk, but seems likely to get enough votes to avoid the possibility of a filibuster. Good on Toomey for letting reason prevail.

(Former Gov. Ed Rendell also deserves praise for calling out members of the state's congressional delegation on guns.)

Less assured of victory are limits on assault weapons and high-magazine clips. The resistance to limiting killing machines designed to murder as many humans as possible, to say nothing of how that is interpreted as an infringement of Second Amendment rights, is baffling.

Congress is unlikely to stop the full madness of a gun-besotted culture, but Thursday may be an important step.