AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

I know a few pro-gun Democrats bouncing around out there. They do exist, though some folks think of them as almost mythical. They’re not as common as many of us would prefer. Instead, most Democrats tend to be hardcore anti-gunners, determined to restrict the Second Amendment to at least some degree.

It’s a popular position for Democrats, which is why it’s annoying that Sen. Kamala Harris  (D-CA) thinks supporting gun control is somehow a courageous position to hold.

California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris said the lack of federal action on gun legislation is due to a lack of follow through in Washington despite an abundance of available new policies.

“On this issue of the need for gun safety laws, we’re not at any loss for good ideas,” the 2020 presidential candidate said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “People have been having good ideas for decades on this issue. What we’re at a loss is for people in Congress to have the courage to do something.”

Says the woman advancing gun control during the Democratic primary when she knows damn good and well she’s preaching to the choir.

Bear in mind that Harris hasn’t proposed a gun control bill during her time in the Senate. Before that, she was the attorney general of California, a role that didn’t require her to propose legislation.

So, during her time in Congress, she’s proposed no gun control. She’s held the office since 2017, so it’s not like there hasn’t been time. Where was her courage then?

Of course, it’s not courageous to advance gun control while speaking to a crowd far more inclined to support it. There’s no courage involved in making a stand everyone around you supports. There’s no bravery required to tell people what they want to hear.

That’s precisely what Harris is doing.

Meanwhile, she’s going to pretend that the public both supports gun control and those lawmakers who oppose this are cowards. She doesn’t get the discrepancy between these two claims. Despite what the Left generally says about the National Rifle Association, it’s not monolithic nor is it anything but a voice that represents its membership.

The NRA doesn’t control lawmakers. At the most, it reminds legislators that the membership will not favor gun control, much the same as how groups like Bloomberg, Brady, and Giffords remind Democrats that their base won’t favor looser gun laws.

Harris and her desire to present herself as a courageous candidate opposing the NRA–much like how other candidates are taking similar stances–is nothing more than a pathetic attempt to pander to her progressive base.

It’s not bravery by any stretch, especially since all these “good ideas” she’s talking about have been tried…and failed. They’ve failed almost universally, and where we don’t have clear evidence of their failure, we only have corollary evidence suggesting they might have worked. That’s it.

I’m sorry, but if you’re going to talk about restricting my rights, I want more than “might” work defense before I start to do more than dismiss your proposal out of hand.

But Harris doesn’t want to talk about that. She’d much pretend that’s not an option so she can paint herself as virtuous.

Meanwhile, if she wants to be a really brave candidate in the Democratic primary, how about saying guns save lives? Doing that would require some degree of courage.

Somehow, I don’t expect Harris to jump at the challenge.