However, NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre told the panel that the current background check system doesn't work, so expanding it would only create an unmanageable government bureaucracy instead of reducing gun crime.

CNN: Obama still backs new gun ban; top senator less certain

Seventeen submitted fewer than 10 records, and four states hadn't reported a single record to the federal background check system, according to the federal investigation, conducted by the Government Accountability Office.

CNN: How the violent mentally ill can buy guns

And the Department of Health and Human Services said it would write new rules to ensure that federal health-privacy law doesn't prevent states from providing records to the background-check system.

WSJ: Obama's Gun Orders Face Hurdles

Despite New York City virtually revolving around its mass transit system, local subway riders haven't had a way to check the next arrival in real-time, even though some smaller cities already take live transit details for granted.

ENGADGET: MTA app for iPhone offers New Yorkers real-time subway arrivals, a small dose of relief

Thune said lawmakers should aim instead at preventing future mass killings by improving mental health programs and increasing the records that state governments send the federal background check system so the checks can do a better job of keeping guns from people who shouldn't have them.

NPR: Reports Show Gun Homicides Down Since 1990s