Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other Democratic leaders in Congress folded their tents on comprehensive gun control fast — dropping a ban on assault weapons and limits on the size of magazines as they watered down the “official” bill that will hit the Senate floor.

What’s left of the bill is important — notably universal background checks and a measure to enhance criminal penalties for “straw man” sales. The more pragmatically minded among gun control advocates are arguing that we should just accept what is doable and stop fighting battles that are already lost. But not everyone is giving up.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York, a national leader on gun control, has said he will keep fighting for an assault weapons ban. His gun control group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, announced it would spend $12 million to air ads putting pressure on both Republican and Democratic to vote for the ban as a separate amendment.

On Thursday, President Obama renewed his call for legislation, including a ban on some of the most lethal guns (so-called “military-style” assault weapons designed for the singular purpose of killing as many people as possible as quickly as possible.)

http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/29/what-now-for-gun-control/