As if anyone paying attention needs any ore examples of which political party in Washington is more uncooperative, bullheaded and unwilling to reasonably compromise, you need look no father than the gun legislation recently voted on in the Senate.

The gun industry, the Republicans and some Democrats were looking to end what they see as ridiculous lawsuits trying to hold gun manufacturers responsible for the independent criminal misuse of their products. One needs to ask why manufacturers of any product should be held liable for injuries or deaths caused by the independent criminal misuse of their products, but that’ another story.

Gun-control advocates and some Democrats were looking to close a gun show loophole in the background check requirement and extend the assault weapons ban. Since the kind of lawsuits the bill was trying to stop really are ridiculous and the gun show loophole and assault weapons ban really aren’t that onerous to gun owners, you would think that when put together the bill would be a reasonable compromise.

But the Republicans killed their own bill because they refused to pass it with the amendments the Democrats wanted to include. So again, the Republicans have failed the people because of their mindless intransigence and singular loyalty to special interests.

Ben Erik Lamborn

Levant