Defending schools against shooters, treating mental illness (especially among young men) seriously, and checking juvenile criminal records are all elements of the Senate’s framework gun bill that make the legislation worth early support.

So is federal encouragement of red-flag laws to take guns away from evidently dangerous people, as long as these laws are tightly drafted and administrated so innocent targets aren’t defamed (especially for political reasons) and denied due process. Republican and Democratic compromise to produce this draft is also promising.