WASHINGTON (AP) — Emboldened by their majorities in the House and Senate, Democrats are making a new push to enact the first major new gun control laws in more than two decades and they’re starting with stricter background checks.
The House passed two bills Thursday to require background checks on all firearms sales and transfers and to allow an expanded 10-day review for gun purchases.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who has been working on gun legislation with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer since the 1990s when they were in the House together, said she and her colleagues have promised survivors of shootings and family members of those who have died that “we are not going away” until the background checks legislation passes.
“Today on the floor we go to that fourth place, a safe environment in which our children can thrive by passing the background check legislation,” said Pelosi after the bills passed on Thursday. “It’s hard to imagine legislation being more popular than the rescue plan, 75% in favor, this legislation, background checks closer to 90%, bipartisan support across the country, receiving the support of gun owners, hunters and the rest. They’ve all had to do a background check, why shouldn’t others.”
The renewed push is the latest effort by Democrats – and some Republicans – who have repeatedly tried, and failed, to pass tougher gun control laws since the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut that killed 20 children and six educators.
While enhanced background checks are generally popular with the American public, even with some conservatives, Congress has so far not been able to find compromise on the issue. It is unclear whether Senate Democrats could find deep enough support among Republicans to pass new gun control legislation in a 50-50 Senate, as they would need 60 votes to do so.
One Republican congressman from New York, Rep. Tom Reed, voted against the bills
“It goes after law-abiding gun owners. It goes after family exchanges in a way that is too burdensome,” said Reed, who believes there are better options for reform.
“This bill is not going to move the ball, in my opinion, on that issue.”
Reed expects these bills to fail in the Senate, but Democrats are confident they can swing some votes their way.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who has introduced a companion bill expanding background checks in the Senate, said he doesn’t think Democrats should just accept that there aren’t 60 votes.
“I just think we are living in a different world than 2013,” Murphy said ahead of the House vote, referring to failed congressional efforts after the Newtown school shooting.
Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, who has pushed gun control legislation with Murphy since then, said “what’s changed is we now have a president who can put pressure on our colleagues.”
For Blumenthal the message is clear.
“No check, no sale,” he said. “No check, no gun.”