Background Checks Or Banned Assault Weapons? Both? Neither?

Yesterday, Trump contradicted the NRA and congressional Republicans by claiming his party is coming around on background checks. It was an "optimistic assessment, based on nothing but... empty election strategy. Reporters John Wagner and Seung Min Kim could have saved a lot of in, space and effort if they had just written, "Trump is lying about guns again."

The congenital liar, on his way to the fundraiser at the Southampton mansion of Stephen Ross and Kara Gaffney, told the media "I think we can do very meaningful background checks. I think Republicans are going to be great and lead the charge along with the Democrats." He claimed-- falsely "he had spoken with congressional leaders from both parties and asserted that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is 'totally on board' with his plans to keep 'sick and demented people' from buying guns. In response, a McConnell spokesman said that he had not endorsed any legislation at this point."

Trump and Senate Republicans are under intense pressure to act in the wake of the shootings, which prompted an outcry over government inaction. There has been limited Republican support in the Senate for past legislation seeking stronger background checks for gun buyers.

McConnell has declined to allow the Senate to consider two bills that passed the House in February, both of which Trump has threatened to veto.

Trump’s comments outside the White House echoed morning tweets in which he also said he had been speaking with leaders of the National Rifle Association “so that their very strong views can be fully represented and respected.”

Speaking to reporters, Trump said that the NRA strongly supported him during the 2016 election and said he is hopeful the NRA can be persuaded of the wisdom of “very meaningful background checks.”

“I think in the end ... the NRA will either be there or will be a little more neutral, and that’s okay too,” said Trump, who referred to NRA members as “great patriots.”

The Washington Post reported earlier this week that Trump had repeatedly told lawmakers and aides in private conversations that he is open to endorsing extensive background checks in the wake of two mass shootings, prompting a warning from the NRA and concerns among White House aides.

Early in his tenure, at the NRA’s urging, Trump also signed legislation that repealed an Obama-era regulation designed to prevent certain mentally ill people from purchasing firearms.

Trump’s previous declarations of support for tougher gun controls, including after the deadly Parkland, Fla., shooting in February 2018, have foundered without a sustained push from the president or support from the NRA and Republican lawmakers.

Trump acknowledged that there have been previous efforts to strengthen background checks “that went nowhere.”

“But there’s never been a president like President Trump,” he added.

McConnell said Thursday that he spoke to Trump about the Senate working on legislation to tighten gun laws after the August recess.

In his first interview since the weekend massacres, McConnell specifically mentioned expanding background checks on gun purchases and “red-flag” laws, which would allow authorities to confiscate a firearm from someone deemed a risk to themselves or the public.

“Those are two items that will be front and center as we see what we can come together on and pass,” McConnell said on Kentucky radio station 840 WHAS.

At the same time, McConnell, who faces reelection next year, underscored the difficulty in reaching consensus on a divisive issue. Congress has not passed significant gun-control legislation since the 1990s.

In late February, the Democratic-led House approved the first major new firearms restrictions to advance in a generation. The proposed legislation would amend federal gun laws to require background checks for all gun sales and most gun transfers.

Federally licensed dealers are required to run background checks on people who buy guns, but private sellers who are not federally licensed are not. Under the bill, private parties would have to seek out a federal license to facilitate a gun deal.

The next day, the chamber passed a separate bill that would extend the time for the government to complete a background check on someone trying to buy a gun from a licensed dealer before the sale can go through.

Trump threatened to veto the two bills, saying they do not sufficiently protect the Second Amendment rights of gun owners. Since the weekend shootings, however, Trump has expressed a new openness to considering background checks.

Democratic leaders have urged McConnell to call the Senate back from recess and take up the House-passed bills.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) sent a letter Thursday to Trump asking him to use his constitutional powers to force the Senate back into session to vote on the two bills.

“Mr. President, we have an opportunity to work in a bipartisan way to pass gun violence prevention background checks. However, Leader Mitch McConnell, describing himself as the ‘grim reaper,’ has been an obstacle to taking any action,” Pelosi wrote.

During the radio interview Thursday, McConnell said the Senate should wait until after its scheduled return from recess to address the issue.

“What we can’t do is fail to pass something, you know, by just locking up and failing to pass-- that’s unacceptable,” McConnell said. “What I want to see here is an outcome, not a bunch of partisan back-and-forth, these shots across the bow.”

As of earlier this week, just two Republican senators-- Patrick J. Toomey (PA) and Susan Collins (ME)-- were on record in support of expanding background-check laws, specifically through a bill Toomey drafted with Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-WV) after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn., in 2012.

Toomey told reporters on Monday that he hopes the bill will now gain momentum but acknowledged the difficulty in passing it in the Senate, where there is a 60-vote threshold on most legislation because of the filibuster rule.

“This isn’t going to happen tomorrow,” Toomey said in a conference call with reporters, “and if we force a vote tomorrow, then I think the vote probably fails, and we may actually set back this whole effort.”

Sen Lindsey O. Graham (R-SC), who announced this week that he was working on legislation encouraging more so-called “red flag” laws in states, is traveling with Trump this weekend and said he would discuss his plans with the president.

Graham and Sen Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) are drafting legislation that would provide incentives for states through grants and other methods to enact their own red flag laws, which are also known as extreme risk protection orders. These laws allow family members or law enforcement officials to petition a judge to bar firearms access to people deemed potentially threatening.

“Like the guy in Dayton, if you get kicked out of school for threatening your schoolmates, with a rape list and a kill list, maybe you shouldn’t buy a gun,” Graham told reporters aboard Air Force One. “That’s the heart of the matter here.”

He dismissed the prospects of expanded background check legislation along the lines of a bill that failed to advance in the Senate in 2013. But Graham said he is floating legislation that would potentially require background checks for assault weapons sold at gun shows.

In a bid to bolster Republican support for strengthened background checks, Giffords, a gun-control group founded by former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) announced a nearly $750,000 ad campaign Friday in Kentucky and Colorado.

The ads target McConnell and Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) for not supporting one of the House-passed background check bill.

John Barrasso is one of two reactionary senators from the most politically backward-- and least populated-- states in America. The idea that Wyoming's declining population of 572,381 people have the same two senators as California's growing 39,747,267 or Texas' growing 29,087,070 is the opposite of democracy. And yesterday Barrasso said even the weak red flag laws Trump and Moscow Mitch might be willing to support are probably not going to pass-- and he'll see to that. "I want to make sure we protect our constitutional rights and whatever comes up will actually help solve a problem. I have a lot of concerns about the due process component of [red flag laws] and I don’t want to punish law-abiding citizens.

As for bipartisan background checks legislation, which he previously voted against and has repeatedly fallen short in the Senate, the Wyoming senator said, “I don’t expect things have changed much.”

The comments from a member of GOP leadership are a reminder of the hurdles to passing legislation that would curb gun violence, despite calls for action from President Donald Trump and comments from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell expressing openness to a debate.

Gabby Giffords' gun control organization endorsed many House incumbents and candidates last cycle. Quite a few who were elected have refused to sign on as co-sponsors of David Cicilline's bill to ban the sale of assault weapons. I wonder if Giffords will endorse them again this cycle. (My guess is yes, for sure!) The malefactors are Tom O'Halleran (Blue Dog-AZ), TJ Cox (D-CA), San Wild (New Dem-PA), Sharice Davids (New Dem-KS), Anthony Brindisi (Blue Dog-NY), Mike Thompson (Blue Dog-CA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Lizzie Fletcher (New Dem-TX), Lauren Underwood (D-IL), Kim Schrier (New Dem-WA), Katie Hill (New Dem-CA), Josh Harder (New Dem-CA), Abigail Spanberger (Blue Dpg-VA), Haley Stevens (New Dem-MI), Greg Stanton (New Dem-AZ), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Elissa Slotkin (New Dem-MI), Elaine Luria (New Dem-VA), Conor Lamb (D-PA), Colin Allred (New Dem-TX) and Chris Smith (R-NJ). Today, Giffords began running $750,000 in television ads that oh, so gently chide Senators MoscowMitch (R-KY) and Cory Gardner (R-CO) for not backing gun safety efforts. Here's the Gardner ad:

Lindsey Graham-- who doesn't make a move without Trump's blessing these days-- says he's introducing "legislation to incentivize states to enact red flag programs-- something Democrats may support but also see as insufficient without universal background checks on gun sales." Meanwhile 196 House Dems are co-sponsoring David Cicilline's legislation to ban these of assault weapons again. New York Congressman Tom Suozzi, usually classified as "a moderate," represents the north shore of Long Island, from Suffolk through Nassau and right up to the border of AOC's district in Queens. His suburban communities are exactly the kind that are most adamant about getting military weapons off the streets and Suozzi signed onto Cicilline's legislation to ban sales of assault weapons on the first day it was introduced. Yesterday he told me that "We need to do anything and everything we can to get this epidemic under control. Background checks, red flag, assault weapons ban and any other common sense gun violence prevention we can build a team to support."

Ro Khanna (D-CA), like Tom Suozzi, is one of the original co-sponsors of Cicilline's bill to ban assault weapons. This morning he explained why he backs it in the simplest of terms: "When the assault weapons ban was in place from 1994-2004, we saw a 42 percent reduction in gun massacres. Since then, we have seen an over 200 percent increase in gun massacres. This is about facts and data that saves lives."