Where is he getting that 77,000 number? Unless there is an existing reason for the rejection (prior felony conviction, for example), states do not track the reason for rejecting permit applications, which can include incomplete forms, no signature, illegible handwriting, and dozens more honest mistakes that people make every day.

And then there’s Bloomberg saying that Obama needs to show more meaningful leadership (no argument from me on THAT front!), and then, as an example of something Obama could do to show that, we get: “The president can introduce legislation even if it doesn’t get passed.” This President already does that, Mr. Mayor.

And for the people who say we need to “do something”: I have used to following to illustrate why immediacy is not always the best way to go.

We (you and I) are driving down the road, and a tire goes flat. They were good tires, and I took all of the reasonable precautions – made sure there was plenty of tread left, properly inflated, and so on. I can’t figure out how to work the jack, so I call AAA. But it’s dark, and you start telling me we need to DO something. I explain that I acted responsibly, and have called the appropriate people to help, now we just have to wait. But you say we NEED to do something NOW! We can’t wait another minute! We have to ACT! So I set the car on fire.

Lawmakers and interest groups often react the same way. Laws already exist against murder, illegal possession of firearms, invading schools, and so forth. But the pressure is on them to “do something NOW”, and the end result when you act that way doesn’t always give you the results you were looking for (in fact, a lot of time it just makes the situation worse). But hey, at least they did “something”.