Editorials from across South Carolina: Senate rules, high school football, gun background checks

Senate rules

The state Senate is supposed to be a deliberative body, but that doesn’t mean that it should move at a glacial pace, or in some instances not at all. The fact that individual senators are able to use the rules to bring important legislation to a halt says that the rules ought to be changed.

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SC Senate’s bill-killing rules could be changed

Scoppe: Roadblock in the Senate isn’t the roads bill; it’s the Senate rules

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A prime example last session was the derailment of a bill to improve the state Freedom of Information Act. The bill would have expedited requests of private citizens exercising their right to obtain public information. It also would have kept officials from charging an inordinate sum to access that information — a way of punishing those requesting the information.

That Sen. Margie Bright Matthews, D-Colleton, was able to effectively kill that long-sought reform bill at virtually the last minute of the session is an indication of just how much the rules need to be refined.…

In recent years, the process has more often resembled a three-legged sack race where stumbles and falls are the rule. In many cases, needed legislation hasn’t crossed the finish line, despite the over-long legislative session.

That the legislative session is expected to be three to four weeks shorter in the future is another good reason to improve the legislative process in the Senate.

High school football

As the season begins, we simply want to remind everyone to keep things in perspective. It’s a game, a sport. Players need to play their best, and they need to try to win, but they also need to play clean. No need to derail another player’s school year and football future by deliberately causing an injury. Fans, you need to be just that — fans. No need to be fanatics. Keep the rivalries in check. Cheer on your team and keep your taunts to a minimum. There’s no need for the battle on the field to turn into a brawl in the parking lot or in the stands.

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Midlands, Upstate high school football coaches among the state’s highest paid

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High school football is supposed to be a good experience all the way around. It’s an opportunity for players to learn the intricacies of what constitutes a team, to become better athletes and leaders among teammates. It’s an opportunity for students to take pride in and show support for their school. It’s an opportunity to learn how to have and show respect for others, as in rival teams — something that might be a good life lesson even for someone entering the political arena.

Are you ready for some football? Yeah, so are we. And we are ready for it to be a good season all the way around. There will be wins, there will be losses, there will be teams that win state championships, but we can all be winners if we maintain a proper perspective.

Make gun law work

South Carolina residents are all-too familiar with the circumstances in which a gun sale should have been prevented but was allowed to go through. Dylann Roof, the 22-year-old charged in the shooting deaths of nine people last year at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, was allowed to buy a handgun because federal authorities could not locate within three days an arrest record that would have disqualified him from buying a gun.

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Even after Emanuel, legislators’ love affair with guns knows no bounds

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Last week, Greenville News Columbia bureau reporter Tim Smith learned from FBI records that similar circumstances occur far too often. According to the records provided by the agency, 271,359 background checks were not completed within the federal government’s three-day period for background checks on guns bought though licensed dealers.

Of those, 9,063 purchases would have been prohibited. The records do not indicate how many of those 9,063 would-be buyers actually were able to complete a purchase. However, the number is sobering.

There are sound arguments both for and against increased gun control regulations. But it should be abundantly clear that whether federal regulations are tightened or not, existing ones need to be more effectively enforced.

In the instance of the three day waiting period, there are a couple of obvious options. First, the federal government could increase the staff that performs the background checks so all checks are completed within the mandated three days. An alternative would be to extend the waiting period to seven days, giving existing personnel more time to complete the work.…

The standard, however, should be simple: 100 percent of background checks should be completed before a gun sale is allowed to proceed.