Democrats Rush to Seize Momentum After Trump Gun-Control Push
Senate Democrats, seek to take advantage of President Trump’s embrace of new gun controls
(Bloomberg) -- Senate Democrats, seeking to take advantage of President Donald Trump’s surprising embrace of new gun controls, proposed reinstating an assault-weapons ban as part of their agenda Thursday while GOP leaders struggled to contain a debate that risks a battle with the gun-rights lobby.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Democrats want to restore the assault-weapons ban -- which expired in 2004 and is strongly opposed by the National Rifle Association -- as a key facet of their response to last month’s massacre at a Florida high school. They also want improved background checks on gun purchasers and a new ability to get a court order to temporarily disarm people who pose a credible risk of harming others.
Trump showed a willingness to embrace some of those ideas at a White House meeting Wednesday with bipartisan group of lawmakers. The president stunned both sides by endorsing measures that are opposed by the NRA, the biggest U.S. lobby for gun owners and manufacturers, including raising the age limit for purchasing some firearms.
“The president acknowledged that taking meaningful steps to improve gun safety is going to require bucking the NRA,” Schumer of New York said at a news conference Thursday. “He seemed willing and ready to do it, and even pushed Republicans to do the same.”
Second-ranking Senate Republican John Cornyn of Texas, though, sought to brush aside Trump’s push for a comprehensive measure. Speaking on the Senate floor, Cornyn reiterated his call to focus on a narrow bipartisan bill that would improve reporting to an existing background check system. Senators could offer their changes to it, he said.
Nothing may pass if the Senate tries to do too much, said Cornyn. “I’ve been saying all week that we should pass this bill now," he said.
Despite earlier talk of beginning a Senate debate this week, Trump’s comments and lawmakers’ inability to agree on what proposals to consider are causing delays as senators prepare to leave Washington for the weekend. The Senate is scheduled next week to take up a banking bill.
Trump seemed to open the door for Democrats at Wednesday’s meeting, saying he wants comprehensive legislation to expand background checks, raise the age limit for buying some firearms and keep the mentally ill from obtaining weapons. He was noncommittal about reinstating the assault weapons ban -- although he didn’t reject outright the idea of including it in a comprehensive bill, as he did with an NRA-backed plan embraced by House GOP members to expand gun owners’ ability to carry concealed weapons to other states.
NRA spokeswoman Jennifer Baker said the meeting “made for great TV” but that the “gun-control proposals discussed would make for bad policy.” She said lawmakers should fix a “broken mental health system,” strengthen background checks and secure schools.
“Instead of punishing law-abiding gun owners for the acts of a deranged lunatic, our leaders should pass meaningful reforms that would actually prevent future tragedies,” she said.
After the meeting, Republicans including Florida Senator Marco Rubio expressed doubt that a broad gun control measure could pass the GOP-led House and Senate.
But Democrats in both chambers jumped at the opportunity to gain ground in a gun-safety debate that has been gridlocked for years, despite fatalities during mass shootings in Nevada, Texas, Connecticut and other states.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California said she wants improved background checks and a ban on “bump stocks” that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire bullets more quickly like a machine gun. Trump has said he wants to deal with that through regulations. Pelosi said banning assault weapons might “take longer.”
‘Most Effective Package’
“We hope that we can proceed in a bipartisan way to get the most effective package forward,” she said.
Schumer said Democrats are still considering what they would back in an expanded background check system. Trump Wednesday endorsed a bipartisan measure that failed in 2013, which was co-sponsored by Republican Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
Schumer said that a bill must require background checks for purchases at gun shows and on the internet, though he said Democrats are signaling flexibility in a debate he acknowledged divides senators in his own party.
“To get these things done, I’m not drawing any lines in the sand,” he said.
After the Florida shooting, companies including Symantec Corp., Hertz Global Holdings Inc., Avis Budget Group Inc. and MetLife Inc. cut marketing or other ties to the NRA, the nation’s biggest lobby for gun owners and manufacturers. Walmart Inc. said it would increase its firearms and ammunition purchasing age to 21, following a similar action by Dick’s Sporting Goods. Dick’s said it would stop selling assault rifles like the one used in Florida.
--With assistance from Anna Edgerton
To contact the reporter on this story: Laura Litvan in Washington at llitvan@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asséo, Justin Blum
©2018 Bloomberg L.P.