Here of countries like brazil and some of the euro zone countries are still really teetering and so i think theres a lot of potential sources of chaos. I think that just suggests to me that as Equity Investors we should not be expecting big returns this year. This is where you will want to pick your spots. If you have something you like, youre going to own it. If you dont have something you like, i think its really important to just keep a low profile because its going to be a tough year. But when we think about, roger, the fact that its the worst start to the year for the dow since 2008, s p since 2001, 2008 and 2001 we know what happened in those years. If you are not going to be comfortable playing in equities this year, where do you go . I can see the scenario where the u. S. Market does provide a modest positive return. What i dont see is the backdrop for a great equity year across the board. Dow think youll have to pick your spots. There are sect orzors of the economy, the Technology Sector that i cover would be one of them. There are players that are going to do well. Even in the environment we face right now. It will be hard for the largest parts of our economy. Im talking here about autos and banks and im talking about pharmaceuticals. Those industries are not going to be putting up monster growth years against the back drop of what i expect economically in 2016. Roger, we just had dick fisher on, former fed president , and a pretty candid interview, we thought. His argument was and im quoting here, at the fed during his time at the fet we front loaded a tremendous market rally of very digestive period thats likely to take place now. Do you see that . As the cause for this period enter entering in your view . I way i look at it is we had this tremendous dividend from lower oil prices, and i dont see any reason why oil prices should go up. For that reason i think its going to be a tough year. Much as 2015 was. You know, there are things that could go wrong. When i have no idea. Guess what, that kifr stuff happens. It happened in 2015. I think it will still happen in 2016. You know, i happen to like facebook. I happen to like apple. You have been directionally correct as we like to say, at least lately, roblger. Ford plans to triple its fleet of Autonomous Cars up to about 30. Ford says it will work with amazon giving people access to connected home devices like the amazon echo right from their cars. We talk to mark fields this morning on squawk on the street. Heres what he said. We see a huge opportunity in growing our business and emerging Mobility Services market, and for us whether we do that in some cases on our own or whether we do it with partners, were going to do it in a way that satisfies consumers, that provides value. Value for the company and enhances our brand. In light of the gm lift news yesterday, the big three waking up . Well, i think so. When you were 16 you got a drivers license. Yet, many people are avoiding that later and later in life. Instead of 80 or 0 pirz of people having a drivers license at 19, were under 70 now. That is a huge headwind for the car industry. In the presence of lyft and uber and the other Ride Sharing Services complicates their life because the world doesnt need as many cars if a meaningful percentage of the rides were taken through Ride Sharing Services. I think this is an incredibly smart move by the Major Car Companies to get involved in autonomous vehicles, but i dont think its going to be a silver bullet. I do think unit volume will be a harder thing for them going forward, and that industry is going to change a lot. Its not at all obvious to me whether you want to be the manufacturer of the cars or whether you want to be uber and lyft, the guys that own the cars. I think that its going to be really interesting to watch that play out. Im not sitting here diving into car companies. That for me seems like something you might do in the future, but im not going to do today. Roger, it does beg the question of whether detroit is conceding that perhaps sell convalley can do the Software Side of autos better than it can right now. That said, lets remember the first thing that happened, you know, with the google selfdriving cars. When they made a mistake, it was that they had their cars follow the rule of the letter of the law rather than behave as humans behave. My guess is the folks in detroit have a lot more experience about how humans behave and interact in cars. I dont think theyre totally out of the game. They obviously these are not software companies. Finally, another black eye for yahoo. The company confirm it shut down its video site, yahoo screen last week. It was home to a lot of content, including the new season of community. Reruns of snl the recent streaming of the nfl and game overseas and it follows a 42 million writedown on some original content back in october. Shares are trading a little higher this morning. Some have tried to portrait it as a bit of a white flag here, roger. What do you think . Well, i look at the in a very, very simple way, which is the mega trend is that video is going mobile. That is a monster, monster trend with huge implications. Unfortunately, in a change like that, not everybody wins. Its pretty obvious that yahoo is one of those not winning. I dont know what they do from here. I think that everything seems to be too little too late. Honestly, i have so moved on from this company, it just isnt one of the ones that i worry about anymore. Its not because they werent great or have a lot of great stuff. They do in both cases. I just life it too short, and there are a lot of companies out there, and i just i dont see a scenario for yahoo is a must own stock for me. I think that is precisely the problem. Well just have to watch and see what they do, but honestly, im going to watch from the bleachers, want from the front row. There are a lot of really compelling things going on in Silicon Valley right now, and i just dont see yahoo doing any of them. In terms of content and delivery, what names are interesting right now . Look whats going on around us. To me its really amaze, first, what netflix s and now am sdwlon doing a similar strategy, doing very, very well. I watch what theyve done with hbo. You watch what apple is doing. There are a lot of really big very Smart Companies with strategies that have been gaining at a minimum mind share, and in most cases also revenue dollars. So, you know, i dont know how this plays out exactly, but, you kno know. Dwoent lack for distribution alternatives today, and, you know, lets just face it. I mean, for yahoo, it might well have worked, but it didnt, and so time to move on. Is there still an opportunity for yahoo to partner with one of the names that you just mentioned to try and make another run at video . Of course. I wonder what it will do. Yahoo has a lot of great assets. They have a lot of great people. To me whatever it is they do they could do without pulling a lot of mind share from me just because i dont see it moving the needle that much. Some good candor today from you as well, roger. Some things just dont matter, right . Some things dont matter, and i think this is one of them. Its always good to see you, man. Thank you so much, roger. My pleasure. Take care. Happy new year. Same to you. Joining us from out west. When we come back, stocks mix this morning with investors still worried about that slowdown in china. Were going to look at some tech names most exposed to the action overseas. Plus, connected tech company harmon. A new partnership with under armor. Harman ceo will join with us a closer look. Heres a live shot of the east room of the white house. The president is set to announce new executive actions around 11 40 eastern time. Well take you there live when he starts to speak. Back in a moment. This just about 120 minutes time president obama is expected to announce new executive actions on gun control. John harwood is live at the white house with what we should expect, john. Hi, kayla. Aloha, carl. I just weve got a president who in his last year in office is determined to do everything he can to move his priorities forward. This is an example of that. We all remember he was thwarted two years ago or three years ago after newtown when he tried to get expanded background checks enacted into law. Congress did not go along, including some democrats who opposed him. What he is announcing today are executive actions that expand the number of gun purchases that will be subject to background checks. In particular, some of the gun shows and online dealers who did not fall under the background check provisions of the law. He has decided he has the executive authority to expand the definition of who to which purchases background checks it applies. Other steps to expand hours of the day in which background checks take place. All these are attempts to buy the president to make some difference. No one is arguing, including the president , that thats are going to make it possible. Some of the Mass Shootings or all of the Mass Shootings that weve seen. He is determined to do whatever he can to there are ten separate provision that is are expected to be a part of this announcement. Do you expect that all of them will be able to be put into affect by the president by the white house, or do you expect there to be some give with congress . I expect the give is going to come into play in the courts. Republicans have indicated they believe that these actions are unconstitutional. You can bet that there will be legal action to block what the president is trying to do. Without theability to get much through congress, he is trying to use the power that he has and the courts will decide how much power that is. He said he returned from his vacation reinvigorated. We are seeing some of the first steps of that reinvigoration for 2016. Now well take you to that announcement live in just a few minutes time. Thanks, john. Well see you soon. Up next, crude oil is falling today despite continued tensions between iran and saudi arabia and a new war of words in the middle east. Well take a closer look. Crude down 1. 5 . Plus, the ceo of connected tech company harman will join us to talk about its new partnership with under armor. Squawk alley will be back in a moment. I asked my dentist if an electric toothbrush was going to clean better than a manual . He said sure. But dont get just any one. Get one inspired by dentists. With a round brush head. Go pro with oralb. Oralbs rounded brush head cups your teeth to break up plaque and rotates to sweep it away. And oralb delivers a clinically proven superior clean versus sonicare diamondclean. My mouth feels super clean. Oralb know youre getting a superior clean. Im never going back to a manual brush. This years Consumer Electronics show. All of you making a major announcement. Company nounksing a partnership with under armor on wireless heart ray rate measuring headphones and Microsofts Office 365 into the car. Dinesh is the ceo of harman, and he joins us from ces in las vegas. Good morning to you. Its good to have you. Good morning. Good to be on your show. When we think of harman, a lot of people think automatically of cars, but it sounds like youre going to try to make sports, fitness, and wearables the next big thing. We are looking for a seamless connected lifestyle, whether its sports or musician or working office. Whether you are in the car or going around. Thats what we are all doing. Its actually part of its totally connected. We dont want any streaming wires. Its a wireless smart headphone. The partner of under armour, we couldnt have asked for a better company. Fast growing and extremely innovative, and driven to excellence. We are bringing the heart rate monday stores and the headphones. Also, a lot happening. You saw the announcement of Cyber Security company. Security is becoming extremely important, whether in home or in the car. Particularly connected car you cannot have an autonomous connected car or whether you have a Cyber Security. People always say that the car is another device on the wheels. Well, when your smart headphone has a bug, its a headache. When your car is at 65 miles an hour, its more than that. We are so thrilled that now we have complete solution. For holland to bring your technology to work in some of these cars that maybe dont have it already. Its a great question. You see all the research is pointing to all the the only thing which has been keeping up these rates Office Technology apart is simplicity and keeping them uptodate. Last year we bought a company which solved the problem of wrupting and keeping the software and hardware current in the car and now we watch the Security Company so consumers like you and i are feeling good that i can have productivity in the car. I can feel personalization of all the devices around me, and im protected. Thats the rates going up. We feel very good were behind the pole position of nine of the large companies. Were deeply involved with, and we also announced a Big Partnership with microsoft this morning where we are bringing the entire suite of Microsoft Office 365 with a prompt of the voice saying connect me to the voice, or skype. Its shown here for the first time. Im excited about whats happening and how fast paced penetration of Technology Without sacrificing the secur y security. 57le is also a very good partner for us. So is going and so is microsoft and many others. Nothing exlose anything. I think where im focused and so are 29,000 people will really push the envelope on the technology and take our industry forwa forward. Iraqs president saying saudi arabia cannot cover up its crime of executing a leading shiite cleric by severing diplomatic relations with the republic. His comments came as he met with the Danish Foreign minister today. The other news, kuwait is the latest company to side with saudi arabia. The country announced it has recalled its ambassador to iran over the attacks of Saudi Diplomatic Missions in iran over the weekend. Speaking of those attacks, we now have fresh video of the events on saturday. This is moments after iran wran protesters attacked the Saudi Embassy in tehran to protest the execution of that shiite cleric. The protesters raided the building and then set fire to it. Thats what led saudi arabia to cut diplomatic ties with iran and ask all iranian diplomats to leave within 48 hours. That proxy war in yemen between the two countries, its heating up again after weeks of relative lulls. Saudiled air strikes targeted military positions linked to rebels backed by iran. This is a 9monthold war, and residents telling the wires that there has been an intensification in the attacks in the last 24 hours. We just have the december production numbers from opec. Just remind everyone saudis are still the biggest producers by far. More than ten Million Barrels per day. Iran limited, of course, still by economic sanctions producing just under two Million Barrels per day. Carl, theyre hoping to get that up to four. Back to you. All right. Michelle, thank you very much. Michelle caruso cab rare wra. When we come back, stocks once again on a bit of a roller coaster in and out of negative territory. Currently down about 48 points on the dow. The next catalyst for todays action, i dont feel, will be europes close. Well get that in just under four minutes. Stwloo good morning. Im sue herrera. Here is your cnbc news update at this hour. Nbc news citing a Senior Defense official says one american soldier was killed and two others wounded in the Helmand Province in southern afghanistan. The incident occurred during a special forses counterterrorism operation. A u. S. Helicopter was sent into the scene to evacuate casualties, but it did not take off because it came under mortar fire. The occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in oregon by armed antigovernment protesters now in its fourth day. The group calls themselves citizens for constitutional freedom. They believe the federal government has too much control over western land. Israeli Security Forces shot and killed a palestinian who stabbed an israeli soldier in the west bank. The soldier was slightly hurt with stab wounds to his face. This comes after the surge in violence in the region enters its fourth month. And ben baldanza led the industry push for more and more airline fees is out as ceo of spirit airlines. It transformed spirit from a money losing operation into an ultra low cost carrier that charged for extra basic amenities, including seats that didnt recline. Thats the cnbc news update this hour. Back to squawk alley. To you, carl. Thank you very much, sue her air wra. Europe managed to avert another down close. Weve got some green arrows, simon. Im actually just eroding into the finish line. There was a disappointment coming coming through on inflation for the euro zone. It didnt rise from 0. 2 . Have you orange making an offer for weed. This is draghis play here. Taking the number of in fact, weed rejected the offer previously. You see the french telecoms are relatively active overall. The other stop thats doing well is altice. Its better because its the vehicle through which buying Cable Television operations here in the wraits. Its whether this alternative dial might face some difficulty. Its a much smaller deal that draghi is attempting. A sixth or seventh as big. The cost savings are huge. 900 million. Who that get rejected . Its translated to about an honor stock that is otherwise relatively depressed. Meantime, voerlgs is in negative territory. Equinet came through and put effectively a sell rating on volkswagen overnight. This after the do somewhere yesterday announced its suit. Its law action against them for, of course, their cheating on emissions. 90 billion is the ask on that. Nobody thinks theyre going to get 90 billion. However, it has some loirss suggesting that actually its anyones guess as to what theyll actually aim end up tea from vw. What is clear is that the u. S. Is determined to make use of vws misconduct and to further weaken vws position in the u. S. That is a controversial statement clearly. Our own auto reporter phil lebeau has suggested within the last hour of the program that vw doesnt have much of a position here in the United States, selling under its own brand roughly 300,000 cars last year in a market of 40 million or 50 million. Vws coo and the head of brand are on their way here to talk at cs, to talk in detroit, and to lobby politicians over the next few days. Back to you. Well be watching for that. Simon, thanks. Shares of alibaba, meanwhile, reversing course. Seeing some is gains earlier today. Right now the stock is up more than 1 . That, of course, follows yesterdays 7 slide. Stocks in asia, however, they have been pretty volatile in the session. Opening lower. Now you can see they closed about a quarter of a percent lower in shanghai. When you see them pumping its really hard to tell the difference. What would you tell us now . Well, i think look, i think you have to look at chinas economy and stock market. I think the word for the stock market thats going to be consistent throughout the year is volatility. This is the first time, first open Market Exchange to try and stem the flow and trying to moderate the stock market fluctuations, and its having sometimes proper affects and negative affects. I think it will take some time to really figure out how to make sure the market is smooth in china. In terms of the economy in chooirn, i think you have to look at the economy in china as a giant escalator. Its been growing and going up quite rapidly. 15 plus percent depending on where you are, and even segments, whether its the first year cds or Tech Companies that have been growing faster, a lot of companies that are slow, inefficient, will have a hard time with the escalator slowing down. I think many inefficient businesses in many of the inefficient companies in china are struggling right now with the slowdown in the moderating of growth in chinese growth. There are a number of segment that is are very efficient markets, efficient with labor and capital, efficient with technology that are doing quite well, and theyre able to exploit the weaknesses of the smaller lessee efficient players and grow at a much faster rate. Running up the escalator, if you will. Alibaba and many of the tech economy in china are doing that. Theyre going and taking share away from the slower, lessee efficient players in the marketplace. Alibaba and others depend on the Chinese Consumers desire to spend. Thats sometimes intertwined with confidence and how that consumer reviews the health of the overall economy. Would you say that that is still impact going into this year . I think the risk first of all, theres plenty of head room in terms of Consumption Patterns for the Chinese Consumer. They come half of what the u. S. Consumer consumes on an average year based on the gdp. Theres plenty of head room for the consumers in china to extend and grow their consumption, and we havent even talked about Consumer Credit yet. Doesnt exist in china. I think there will be some movement there as well. I think the thing you touched on is that contagion from the slower lessee efficient businesses, job growth, inflation, how that is going to hurt the Chinese Consumer thats the one rescue. Whats the contagion from the slower parts of the economy to the faster growing tech economies. Certainly, haney, the yuan is tied to every part of the economy. Its dropped as much in the last six weeks as it did in august when we were talking about this crisis of confidence. On one hand, it makes exports cheaper rsh on the other hand, it moves cash from the country. How does that play out, and is it helping china as much as people here in the u. S. Say its hurting our exports . Well, i cant comment directly, and im not an economist, but i do believe that the devaluation of the rnb will hurt the chinese economy longer term and will force the slowdown even further. Right now were talking about 5. 5 , 6. 5 growth. It may go lower than that. I mean, the Positive Side of people moving money out of the country is obviously youre seeing asset prices in places like the u. S. , western u. S. , and even parts of europe going up as Chinese Consumers buy hard assets. I think theyve got to figure out a way to keep the confidence in the rnb intact in china. Certainly not the last of the conversations were going to be having about the yuan. We appreciate your time this morning. Han where i nada from ggb capital. Any moment, the president is expected to announce these new executive actions on gun control. We will go live to the white house as soon as he begins speaking. The dow down about 33 points. Were back in just a moment. Are you looking at a live shot of the white house. Any moment now the president expected to announce some new executive actions on gun control. Gun violence, one of the more frustrating elements of his tenure, the president has said. John harwood is live outside the white house with more. John, a lot of this is aimed at making it easier for the fbi to do background checks. I saw some statistics this morning about the number of checks they did last year. The most in the agencys history. Thats right. You think there should be more. He wants money for more agents. He wants to keep the background check facility within the government open 247. Thats not the case currently. So he is doing what he can, and were right on a moment ago when you said this was an especially frustrating thing for him. I think he believes this is the most frustrating issue that he has dealt with as president. Remember, he has said on more than one occasion that the day of the newtown massacre was the low point of his presidency since then he tried legislatively very hard in early 2013 to Push Congress to expand the number of back ground checks. He could not get that done. Especially from more rural gunfriendly states. The president has been watching a continuing succession of Mass Shootings trying to figure out what can i do . He announced yesterday with loretta limplg, his attorney general, that they spend some Time Research and concluding that he had the authority to redefine what it means to be a gun dealer to bring more purchases in under the background check provisions. Republicans say thats unconstitutional. Theyre going to challenge him mritly and legally and well see whether he can stand his position. That is the managing director at Sandy Hook Promise who lost his son in the sandy hook shooting that john was just referencing. You might keep your eye on the gun manufacturer stocks. Smith and wesson going all the way back to the ipo in 2001, and, john, that is a cycle that has become a little familiar as the administration makes moves in this arena. The manufacturers see a bounce. Here is the president approaching the mike. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Please, have a seat. Thank you. Thank you, everyone. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Please, please, have a seat. Thank you so much. Mark, i want to thank you for your introduction. I still remember the first time we met and the time we spent together and the conversation we had. That changed me that day. My hope is that it would change the country. Five years ago this week the sitting member of congress and 18 others were shot at at a supermarket in tucson, arizona. It wasnt the first time i had to talk to the nation in response to a mass shooting. Nor would it be the last. Fort hood, binghamton, aurora, oak creek, newtown, the navy ya yard, santa barbara, charleston, san bernardino. Too many. Thanks to a great medical team and the love of her husband, mark, my dear friend and colleague, gabby giffords, survived. Shes here with us today with her wonderful mom. [ applause ] thanks to a great medical team, her wonderful husband, mark who, by the way, the last time i met with mark this is just a small aside. You may know marks twin brother is in outer space. He came to the office and i said how often are you talking to him . He said usually every day, but the meeting was the day of the call, and i may have not answered the call. That made me feel kind of bad. I told him if his brother scott is calling today, he should take it. Turn the ringer on. I was there with gabby when she was still in the hospital with we didnt think necessarily at that point that she was going to survive. That visit right before memorial about an hour later gabby first opened her eyes. I remember talking to mom about that. I know the pain that she is her family have endured these past five years. And the rehabilitation and the work and the effort to recover from shattering injuries, and then i think of all the americans who arent as fortunate. Every single year more than 30,000 americans hundreds of thousands have buried their own children. Many have had to learn to live with a disability or learn to live without the love of their life. A number of those people are here today. They can tell you some stories. In this room right here there are a lot of stories. Theres a lot of heartache. Theres a lot of resilience. Theres a lot of strength, but theres also a lot of pain. This is just a small sample. The United States of america is not the only country on evert with violent or dangerous people. We are not inharptly more prone to violence. But we are the only advanced country on earth that sees this kind of Mass Violence erupt with this kind of frequency. It doesnt happen in other advanced countries. Its not even close. As ive said before, somehow we become numb to it and we start thinking that this is normal. And instead of thinking about how to solve the problem, this has become one of our most polarized partisan debates. Thats why on thursday im fwog hold a town hall meeting on thursday morning on gun violence because my goal here is to bring good people on both sides of this issue together for an open discussion. Im not on the ballot again. Im not looking to score some points. I think we can disagree without impugning other peoples motives or without being disagreeable. We dont need to be talking past one another, but we do have to feel a sense of urgency about it. In dr. Kings words, we need to fear the fierce urgency of now. Because people are dying. And the constant excuse for inaction no longer do. No longer suffice. Thats why were here today. Not to debate the last mass shooting, but to do something to try to prevent the next one. [ applause ] to prove that the vast majority of americans, even if our voices arent always the loudest or most extreme, care enough about a little boy like daniel to come together and take commonsense steps to save lives and protect more of our children. I want to be clear at the start. Ive said this over and over again. Theres a ritual about what i have to do. I believe in the Second Amendment. Its there written on the paper. It guarantees a right to bear arms. No matter how many times people try to twist my words around, i taught constitutional law. I know a bit about this. I get it. But i also believe we can find ways to reduce gun violence consistent with the Second Amendment. I mean, think about it. We all believe in the first amendment, the guarantee in free speech we accept that you cant yell fire in a theater. We accept there are some constraints on our freedom in order to protect innocent people. We cherish our right to privacy. We accept you have to go through metal detectors before being allowed to board a plane. Its not because people like doing that. But we understand thats part of the price of living in a civilized society. Whats often ignored in this debate is that majority of gun owners actually agree. A majority of gun owners agree that we can respect the Second Amendment while keeping an irresponsible lawbreaking few from inflicting harm on a massive scale. Today background checks are required at gun stores. If a father wants to teach his daughter how to hunt, he can walk into a gun store, get a background check, purchase his weapon safely and responsibly. This is not seen as an infringement on the Second Amendment. This hasnt been the first step in some slippery slope to mass confiscation. Contrary to claims of some president ial candidates apparently before this meeting, this is not a plot to take away everybodys guns. You pass a background check, you purchase a firearm. The problem is some gun sellers have been operating under a different set of rules. A violent felon can buy the exact same weapon over the internet with no background check. No questions asked. A recent study found that about one in 30 people looking to buy guns on one website had criminal records. One out of 30 had criminal a criminal record. Were talking about individuals convicted of serious crimes. Aggravated assault, domestic violence, robbery, illegal gun possession. People with length where i criminal histories buying deadly womens all too easily. This was just one website within the span of a few months. Weve created a system in which dangerous people are allowed play by a different set of rules than a responsible gun owner who buys his or her gun the right way and subjects themselves to a background check. That doesnt make sense. Everybody should have to abide by the same rules. Most americans and gun owners agree. Heats what we tried to change after 26 americans, including 20 children, were murdered at sandy hook elementary. Two United States senators, joe manchin, and pat toomey, both gun owners, both strong defenders of our Second Amendment rights, both with a grades from the nra. Thats hard to get. Worked together in good faith consulting with folks like our Vice President who has been a champion on this for a long time to write a commonsense compromise bill that would have required virtually everyone who buys a gun to get a background check. That was it. Three commonsense. How did this become such a partisan issue . Republican president george bush swrub once said i believe in background checks at gun shows or anywhere to make sure guns dont get into the hands of people that shouldnt have them. Senator john mccain, introduced a bipartisan measure to address the gun show loophole, saying we need this amendment because criminals and terrorists have exploited and are exploiting this very obvious loophole in our gun safety laws. Even the nra used to support expanded background checks. By the way, most of its members still do. Most Republican Voters still do. How do we get here . How did we get to the place where people think requiring a comprehensive background check means taking away peoples guns . Each time this comes up, we are fed the excuse that commonsense reforms like background checks might not have stopped the last massacre or the one before that or the one before that. Why bother trying . I reject that thinking. We know we cant stop every act of violence, every act of evil in the world. Maybe we could try to stop one act of evil, one act of violence. Some of you may recall that at the same time that sandy hook happened, a disturbed person in china took a knife and tried to kill with a knife a bunch of children in china. Most of them survived. He didnt have access to a powerful weapon. We maybe cant save everybody, but we could save some. Just as we dont prevent all traffic accidents, but we take steps to try to reduce traffic accidents. As Ronald Reagan once said, if mandatory background checks could save some lives, it would be well worth making it the law of the land. The bill before Congress Years ago met that test. Unfortunately, too many senators failed theirs. In fact, we know that background checks make a difference. After connecticut passed a law requiring background checks and gun safety courses, gun deaths decreased by