Gun safety advocates are getting a wakeup call this week, with two measures that just days ago seemed almost certain to pass are now looking iffy in the Senate. Big majorities of Americans across partisan lines, including gun owners, support expanded background checks on gun buyers, but talks to reach a bipartisan compromise are stuck on the issue of record-keeping. Only licensed gun dealers keep records, not the federal government, but the National Rifle Association warns that expanding background checks to all private and commercial sales is a first step toward federal confiscation of guns.