The Democrat-controlled House passed three gun-control bills this week that Speaker Nancy Pelosi asserted were “a measure offering grants to states to set up ‘red flag’ laws, a prohibition on gun ownership for those convicted of misdemeanor hate crimes, and a ban on magazines that can hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition.” Fortunately, none of these draconian bills will see the light of day in the Republican-controlled Senate.

Pelosi was asked whether she regretted not bringing the House back early from its August recess “to keep the flame lit on gun violence.” She became clearly agitated, firing back, “We did our job. The Senate was supposed to come back. Why don’t you all get that straight? The Senate did not come back to pass the bill.” After expressing her anger over the “silliness of these questions,” Pelosi bloviated, “Lives are at stake. Senator McConnell is standing in the way. … Don’t ask me what we haven’t done! We have done it! … Sen. McConnell hasn’t acted. Why don’t you go ask him if he has any regrets for all the people who died?”

Getting past Pelosi’s emotional theatrics, the reality is that Democrats are seeking to force McConnell into taking up some of their gun-control proposals. Ironically, even with these clearly Orwellian bills that Pelosi knows would never pass constitutional muster, Democrats are still backing away from passing their most loudly advocated gun-control measure: a ban on so-called “assault weapons.” Since Pelosi and company know that these bills amount to little more than anti-gun virtue signaling, why not go all the way and pass their “assault weapon” ban?

The Daily Wire’s Emily Zanotti notes that “some moderate Democrats — especially those running for office next year in decidedly purple districts — won’t sign on to a blanket assault weapons ban, leaving Democrats around ten votes shy of getting the ban passed in a branch of Congress that they control. That’s right: the ban is so unpopular that Democrats aren’t able to marshal their own to support a bill that has no hope of passage.”