Just keep passing the same laws - It worked the first time, didn't it?

Today the Senate Judiciary Committee voted and passed a bill that does absolutely nothing to make anyone more secure, and whose only purpose is to make penalties for already illegal activity so high it will make ordinary gun owners think twice about buying or selling firearms. The bill was approved in an 11-7 vote largely along party lines. Sen. Charles Grassley (Iowa), the senior Republican on the Judiciary Committee, was the only GOP lawmaker to vote yes.

 Sen. Charles Grassley (Iowa)

Excerpt for The Hill:

The Stop Illegal Trafficking in Firearms Act sponsored by Leahy would stiffen penalties for trafficking, increasing jail terms in some cases up to 25 years. It would cover sellers and purchasers involved in illegal transactions and would lower the threshold for determining the criminal intent of the parties involved.

Grassley agreed to back the measure after Leahy agreed to an amendment to prohibit the Department of Justice (DOJ) from conducting gun-walking operations such as “Fast and Furious,” an operation that may have resulted in the death of a U.S. border patrol agent.

Under the Grassley amendment, the DOJ could engage in similar sting operations only if the attorney general, deputy attorney general or head of the criminal division personally approves them after determining sufficient safeguards are in place.

The bill also strengthens the law prohibiting material false statements in connection with purchasing a firearm and increases penalties for purchasing a gun with intent to transfer it to someone involved in a violent crime or drug trafficking.

It would also outlaw illegal purchasers of firearms from smuggling weapons out of the country.

So, exactly what part of this law actually helps PREVENT gun violence? Doesn't it seem kind of counter-productive to raise  penalties on laws that the FBI chooses not to strictly enforce in the first place? In 2010 the NICS did almost 14.5 million background checks. Of those, 72,659 were denied (about 1/2 of 1%). Of those, 62 were prosecuted and 13 convicted. So even though lying on the 4473 form is a federal offense, our Justice Department managed to get a .01% (1/100th of a percent) conviction rate on crimes that were identified by the FBI themselves.

Hold your legislators responsible. Stop allowing them to pass the buck on these shoddy bills. I know everyone wants less gun violence, and no politician wants to back legislation that could actually be politically painful. But let's all agree to stop letting them think they are fooling us by claiming to be making things better by passing useless bills.