But about guns — you may be more radical than I am, given that you want to repeal the Second Amendment, while I’d be thrilled if we could just prohibit gun dealers from selling caches of weapons across state lines. I just can’t summon the energy to talk about changing the Constitution. When was the last success — 1992? And it was to ban Congress from getting a pay raise until after an election had passed. Which had originally been submitted for ratification in 1789. Wahoo.

Bret: I don’t think of my proposal as radical at all. I think of it as the essence of conservatism, coming from someone who sees himself as a strict constructionist. The Constitution provides, in Article V, a method for amending itself. Let’s use it! Let’s use it to repeal an amendment that, having left us awash in 300,000,000 firearms, is defeating the larger purposes of the Constitution as they are spelled out in the preamble: to “insure domestic tranquillity”; to “promote the general welfare”; and to “secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.”

What is “posterity” for the parents of the children massacred in Parkland, Fla.? Where are the “blessings of liberty” for those who were mowed down at a concert in Las Vegas? Where is the “domestic tranquillity” for the relatives of the 11,000 people murdered with a firearm in 2016?

Gail: I applaud your sentiments. You’re absolutely right — I’m just sadly realistic.

Bret: Some of my liberal friends think that repealing the Second Amendment is a pipe dream, and we should focus on more achievable goals like reversing the Supreme Court’s 2008 Heller decision and instituting a ban on the AR-15-style rifle, which was used by the killers in Parkland and Vegas. I’m skeptical. The United States had a huge gun problem long before Heller. And most firearm violence is done with handguns, not rifles.

We need, at the very least, to start talking about root causes and not just symptoms. Questioning the relevance and legitimacy of the Second Amendment is what the N.R.A. most fears, which is why I’m going on about it.

Gail: Bless you. And the fight must continue. Just because I’m sure Congress will punt on guns doesn’t mean I don’t really, really believe we have to change.

The other thing our lawmakers are supposed to do is pass appropriations, although I guess they’ll kick the can down the road with some kind of just-keep-going bill. I am very worried about the whole spending situation. This administration is stripping so many good programs out of existence, from family planning to preserving whooping cranes. Do you have any worries on that front?