After shootings, US Congress again weighs gun violence response

WASHINGTON – Newtown. Charleston. Orlando. Parkland.

And now after mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, Congress again is confronted with the question of what, if anything, lawmakers should do to combat the scourge of gun violence afflicting the country.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., talks to reporters after the budget package just passed in the Senate to permit the government to resume borrowing to pay all of its obligations and would remove the prospect of a government shutdown in October, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

While both parties are calling for action, the retreat to familiar political corners was swift. Democrats demanded quick approval of gun-control legislation — some of it already passed by the House — while Republicans looked elsewhere for answers, focusing on mental health and violent video games.

With Congress away from Washington for a five-week recess, and the parties intractably divided, the odds appear stacked in favor of gridlock. But Democrats and some Republicans said this time can and should be different.

“While no law will end mass shootings entirely, it’s time for Congress to act to help keep our communities safer,” said Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., as he vowed to again push bipartisan legislation to expand background checks to all commercial firearm sales.

Toomey and his co-sponsor, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., each spoke with President Donald Trump about the background checks bill and a separate proposal making it easier to take guns away from people believed to be a danger to themselves or others.

Trump “showed a willingness to work with us” on background checks and other measures, Toomey told reporters in a conference call. “He was very constructive.”

Toomey and Manchin have tried to pass a background check bill since 2013, in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook school shooting, and could not even muster a Senate vote last year.

Manchin called mass shootings and other gun violence “tragic American problems,” and said it was “past time for Congress to take action.”

Other Democrats put the burden on Trump, saying he should demand Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell put a House-passed bill strengthening background checks up for a vote.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate GOP leader is blocking gun safety reforms that more than 90% of Americans support. He and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said McConnell, R-Ky., should call the Senate into emergency session to take immediate action on the House-passed bill, which would require federal background checks for all firearms sales and transfers, including those sold online or at gun shows.

Another bill allows an expanded 10-day review for gun purchases.

The House approved the bills in February but they have not come up for consideration in the Republican-controlled Senate.

On a conference call Monday, Pelosi told Democratic lawmakers they have a “golden opportunity to save lives” by pressuring Trump and McConnell to act, according to a Democratic aide who was granted anonymity to discuss the private session.

“The House stands ready to return to pass legislation, if the Senate sends us back an amended bipartisan bill or if other legislation is ready for House action,” Pelosi said later in a letter to colleagues.

“Senate Republicans are prepared to do our part,” McConnell said in a statement Monday. He spoke with GOP committee leaders including Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham and encouraged them to look for bipartisan solutions “to protect our communities without infringing on Americans’ constitutional rights,” McConnell said.

In a brief White House speech, Trump condemned the weekend shootings in Texas and Ohio that left 31 people dead as barbaric crimes “against all humanity” and called for bipartisan cooperation to respond to an epidemic of gun violence. He signaled opposition to large-scale gun control efforts, saying, “hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun.” /gsg