The New York Times got it right yesterday with its first page one editorial in nearly 100 years. Its plea to Congress to pass some sensible gun laws will probably have little effect though. No mass murders over the past number of years have; not even enough for Congress to prohibit anyone on the "no fly" list from buying an assault weapon.

This time, as always, we hear the refrain that gun laws won't keep weapons out of the hands of criminals. Maybe true. But if that is the controlling logic, we should not ban use of narcotics because there will always be people who use them. Why make assault or murder illegal for that matter; criminals will still do those things.

In the 1840s, years after he lost the presidency to Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams served as a distinguished congressman.  Every year he would present anti-slavery petitions to the Congress. He was shut down every time.  The House even passed a gag rule stopping him from even presenting those petitions. He continued anyway, year after year. We know the end of that story.

John Quincy Adams was on the right side of history. So too, I hope, will be the elected officials who persist in proposing sensible gun laws. When will the rest of Congress follow and do the right thing? Until they do, I am ashamed.