With virtually all other political news besides impeachment screeching to a halt, some liberal activists are raising an uncomfortable question. Weren’t we supposed to be working on a new gun control deal? That’s going to be the topic at a forum in Las Vegas today when ten Democratic 2020 hopefuls will be discussing the issue close to the anniversary of the worst mass shooting in the country’s history which took place in that city. They clearly would all like to score a win on background checks at a minimum, but for some strange reason, the Republicans (and the President) might not be quite as willing to go along with the program. (Associated Press)

After back-to-back mass shootings in Ohio and Texas this summer, gun control burst back on the scene as a major political issue for Democrats. Now it risks taking a back seat as impeachment fever overtakes Washington.

Gun control advocates are determined to prevent that from happening.

Ten White House hopefuls will be in Las Vegas for a forum on gun policy on Wednesday — almost two years to the day after a gunman killed 58 people at a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip in the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. The event is being hosted by MSNBC, March for Our Lives and Giffords, the advocacy organization set up by former Arizona congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who was shot and gravely wounded during a constituent meeting in 2011.

So the Democrats in general and their presidential candidates, in particular, want to make sure that “progress” on a new gun control bill isn’t lost in all the impeachment hoopla? I’m just trying to picture how that conversation with the President would go and nothing comes to mind.

We already know that no type of gun ban is going to make it through the Senate, and the President hasn’t indicated that he’s willing to go that far. And the only reason that there was any discussion of an expanded background check bill standing a chance was that Trump was talking about approving it. Even then, background checks weren’t going to be an easy sell and wouldn’t have drawn a majority of the GOP to their side.

But that was then and this was now. Support among Republicans will probably shrink significantly if they know that Trump won’t sign off on it. And all of these Democrats who are meeting in Vegas are left in the position of having to basically say, you’re a horrible person who needs to be impeached right now. And oh, by the way… would you mind supporting our gun control bill that’s going to enrage your base?

The President appears to be pretty much on a rampage against the Democrats at the moment and there’s little on his mind other than impeachment, witch hunts, and the 2020 election. Asking him for a favor right after saying you’re going to try to throw him out of office might not turn out to have been the wisest strategy.