Take a moment to laugh — with Pat Toomey

If you need a break from contemplating the tragedy in Boston, there’s this:

The crew at Saturday Night Live spoofed U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey in an opening bit on gun control last week, with Bill Hader playing the Pennsylvania Republican (see above).

Toomey showed he has a sense of humor by posting it on his website, and as you can see here, plenty of gun-rights advocates were not amused.

The skit makes fun of Toomey’s proposal with West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin to expand background checks for gun purchases, suggesting it does so little to regulate gun sales as to be laughable.

I don’t cover Congress and I haven’t done a lot of reporting on this, but it struck me that when Toomey and Machin announced their deal last week, advocates on all sides of the issue weighed in with support and condemnation days before the actual text of their amendment was available.

The commentary was based on the senators’ summary of the provisions of the legislation, and when it comes to making laws, the devil is always in the details.

I’d like to see a lot more analysis of whether the amendment’s exception for sales among family and close friends could be a loophole for straw purchasers, and exactly how the language about a national gun registry will affect future proposals to create one.

I’d hate to think the jokesters on TV got it right.