The House deciding to jump on impeachment right now may well have scuttled any hope in hell they had of pushing gun control through prior to the 2020 elections. A lot of digital ink has been spilled discussing that impact, and a lot more will be spilled in the future. Anti-gun Democrats had a golden opportunity to achieve some of their stated goals, only to toss them away. You’d think they’d wait until after some gun control was signed by the president, but no.

Now, there seems to be little chance of that happening. For pro-gun advocates, this is welcome news.

For anti-gun activists, though, it should be a body blow they’d have to struggle to recover from. Instead, they’re just going to pretend it’s not even happening.

The House Judiciary Committee convened the “Protecting America from Assault Weapons” hearing on Wednesday, and those who spoke to the Washington Examiner said while there’s always a possibility for firearm bills to die in Congress, they’re not too concerned about the impeachment inquiry firestorm sucking the political oxygen away from their proposals.

“I think we can walk and chew gum. Our job is to do a lot of things and do them well, so no, I’m not concerned about that,” Rep. Eric Swalwell said, pointing to the large number of advocates that attended the hearing. The California Democrat ran his failed presidential campaign primarily on gun control.

…

“It’s always an issue in D.C. where everyone can’t be focusing on everything at the same time, so we’re still going to be working hard. That’s why today, despite all the craziness going on — impeachment — we’re still having our hearing, we’re still having our rally, we’re pushing for the vote,” J.P. Thomas said, who is the senior program manager of the Brady Campaign, a nonprofit dedicated to preventing gun violence.

They really are delusional, aren’t they?

Look, I have no doubt that House Democrats are fully capable of voting on both impeachment and gun control, even on the same day. That’s not exactly something anyone has any doubts on.

The point, though, is that no gun control can be passed without the Senate on board. Guess who controls the Senate? Why, that’s the president’s party, the Republicans.

While there’s little doubt Congress can juggle a variety of issues–I take issue with Swalwell’s claim that they can do them well–that’s not what anyone is saying is the problem. Democrats have now hoisted their proverbial middle fingers and have alienated the Republicans they need to advance their agenda.

It’s kind of hilarious, really.

Of course, it’s also possible that they don’t really want to pass any gun control. They want to make sure their base thinks they do, but they’d much rather trip over their own feet that actually reach some kind of a deal that would put gun control on the president’s desk with him willing to actually sign it.

I don’t see why they would mind you, but it’s the only reason they’d do this without being complete bumbling idiots.

Unless, of course, they’re really just complete bumbling idiots, which is probably more likely.