This has been one of the best presidential election seasons in my memory. For the first time we have several candidates who do not go into the fetal position when they think they may have to make a stand based on principle. One of the champions, in my view, is Florida Senator Marco Rubio.

On Friday, Senator Rubio, dismissed the call for increased background checks for gun purchases.

“None of these crimes that have been committed — or what I believe is a terror attack in California — would have been prevented by the expanded background checks,” the GOP presidential candidate and Florida senator said Friday. “The fact of the matter is these individuals would have passed.”

“None of the major shootings that have occurred in this country over the last few months or years that have outraged us would gun laws have prevented them,” Rubio added. “In fact, many of them existed despite the fact that local jurisdictions had gun laws even stricter than what you find in other jurisdictions.”

The is exactly the case. Enhanced background checks are a surrender to the “we have to do something” kneejerk impulse that Democrats like because passing a law will fix a problem with its roots entirely in the mental processes of the shooter. There are already laws against murder so it is very difficult to see how more background checks do anything. All recent shooters have acquired their weapons without breaking the law. It is difficult to see the call for more and better background checks as anything other than a move that everyone knows is bogus but is a stalking horse for more “we have to do something” legislation aimed at curtailing legal possession of firearms.

Even though the clip is over 7:00, you should watch some of it to see how well Rubio handles this issue when faced with a panel of three interviewers who are not Second Amendment fans.

Perhaps the most pernicious idea percolating around progressive circles is the idea that people placed on the no-fly list should be prevented from legally purchasing firearms. I addressed that idea in some detail last week, but [mc_name name=’Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)’ chamber=’senate’ mcid=’R000595′ ] dismantled it yesterday on CNN’s State of the Union.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) says a majority of the people on the federal “no-fly list” do not belong there and therefore should not have their right to purchase firearms taken away.

“These are everyday Americans that have nothing to do with terrorism, they wind up on the no-fly list, there’s no due process or any way to get your name removed from it in a timely fashion, and now they’re having their Second Amendment rights being impeded upon,” Rubio said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.

The GOP presidential hopeful said the lists are far from perfect and a poor measure of who should and should not have access to a gun.
“The majority of the people on the no-fly list are often times people that just basically have the same name as somebody else who doesn’t belong on the no-fly list,” he said. “Former Senator Ted Kennedy once said he was on a no-fly list. There are journalists on the no-fly list. There are others involved in the no-fly list that wind up there.”

“Sometimes you’re only on that list because the FBI wants to talk to you about someone you know, not because you’re a suspect. And, again, now your Second Amendment right is being impeded with,” he added.

I’ve been a critical of Senator Rubio’s recent strategy of attacking Senator Ted Cruz over his vote to stop government surveillance that does nothing to make us safe while doing a great deal to erode civil liberties. But let there be no mistake about it. I would be ecstatic to cast my vote for him in November should he emerge as the nominee.