Even NRA heroes support tightening background checks

Wayne LaPierre needs to rethink this one. One of the stories we heard from anti-gun-control advocates at the Senate hearing this week was of Sarah Dawn McKinley, who fought off two intruders with her shotgun in Oklahoma in 2011. This was then embellished by witnesses into the broader assertion that good moms everywhere need to be able to have assault rifles and enough ammo to fight off entire zombie hordes.

So is McKinley on the same page as the others? Well, she is and she isn't.

I just got off the phone with Ms. McKinley, and what she told me will give a boost to people on both sides of the argument. She told me she does not favor an assault weapons ban, even though she didn't use an assault weapon in warding off her intruders.

But Ms. McKinley said she supports the idea of expanding the background check system, telling me: 'Anybody should be willing to get a background check that wants to take a gun.'

'I completely agree with background checks,' she said. 'If I want a gun I have no problem getting one. I don't see why anybody would have a problem getting a background check if they have nothing to hide.'

The NRA is so far afield on this one that even their own poster children aren't buying it. You would think the group would stomach popular things like tightening background checks in order to look more reasonable while they're battling against all the other proposals, but nope.

To help deal a blow to the NRA's continued power in Congress, Daily Kos is enthusiastically supporting Robin Kelly in the upcoming Illinois 2nd Congressional District primary. Please help by contributing $3 (or more!) to her campaign.