Republicans Deserve The Blame They Get-- But There Are Still 25 House Dems-- Led By DCCC Chair Cheri Bustos-- Who Refuse To Back An Assault Weapons Ban

Three freshmen members of Congress who no one in their right mind will ever accuse of being courageous are Kim Schier (New Dem-WA), Elaine Luria (New Dem-VA) and Colin Allred (D-TX). Schrier's district is 72.3% suburban, the rest being about equally urban and rural. Luria's is over 95% urban and suburban; just 4.5% rural. And Allred's is 100% urban and suburban-- no rural precincts at all. On Friday Schier, Luria and Allred became the 209th, 210th and 211th members of Congress to sign on as co-sponsors to Dave Cicilline's bill to ban the sale of assault weapons, H.R. 1296. Pelosi has had the bill bottled up in the House Judiciary Committee since February 15. It took 3 more GOP/NRA gun massacres to get cowards like Schier, Luria and Allred to support it. I'm sure they feel like they're heroes now. The bill even had it's first official Republican co-sponsor, Peter King (August 16), before they-- pardon the metaphor, pulled the trigger. In all, 20 members (19 Dems, almost all of them New Dems and Blue Dogs) signed on after the spate of massacres, during the summer recess. Most of them represent suburban districts where support for banning assault weapons is more than just a majority; it's now an issue that will help determine who wins in 2020 and who loses.

Opposition to banning assault weapons still exists with some significance in backward rural areas. Few of the cowards who signed on represent backward rural areas. Better late than never. There are still 25 Democrats refusing to back the bill-- primarily Blue Dogs like top NRA-champions Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX) and Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN), "former" Republican Tom O'Halleran (Blue Dog-AZ), DCCC chair Cheri Bustos (New Dem-IL), Kendra Horn (Blue Dog-OK), Anthony Brindisi (Blue Dog-NY), Ron Kind (New Dem-WI), Jeff Van Drew (Blue Dog-NJ), Lauren Underwood (IL), Vicente Gonzalez (Blue Dog-TX), Sanford Bishop (Blue Dog-GA), Sharice Davids (New Dem-KS), Ben McAdams (Blue Dog-UT), Kurt Schrader (Blue Dog-OR), Terri Sewell (New Dem-AL), Joe Cunningham (Blue Dog-SC), Lizzie Fletcher (New Dem-TX), Andy Kim (Suicidal-NJ), Elissa Slotkin (New Dem-MI) and Xochitl Torres-Small (Blue Dog-NM).

A new poll for ABC News and the Washington Post was released yesterday that shows widespread support for gun control, including the assault weapons sales ban. Mike DeBonis and Emily Guskin wrote for The Post that "Americans across party and demographic lines overwhelmingly support expanded background checks for gun buyers and allowing law enforcement to temporarily seize weapons from troubled individuals." They wrote that Señor Trumpanzee and Republicans "face fresh pressure to act" but forgot to mention all the Blue Dogs and New Dems still sitting on the fence. Instead they point out that the poll shows that "More Americans say they trust congressional Democrats over Trump to handle the nation’s gun laws, 51 percent to 36 percent, with independents siding with Democrats by a 17-point margin-- a divide that could have political ramifications for the 2020 presidential and congressional elections."

On The Fence by Nancy Ohanian

Trump, the NRA, Blue Dogs and Republicans will no doubt put up a weak and useless background check bill and say "ok, happy now? It won't do any good." And they're right; it won't. The 89% of Americans who support expanding federal background checks include massive majorities of Republicans, of gun owners and even of lunatic fringe white evangelicals. Right now McConnell is the main problem, saying he won't allow the Senate to vote on anything until Trump agrees to back it.

Cicilline: "This is a pattern. They sort of hope time passes and people forget about it. The good news is, the American people are not going to let them forget about it. They’re going to demand that Congress and the Senate do something to reduce gun violence in this country." Sloppily, DeBonis and Guskin reported that "A growing number of Democrats-- and a few Republicans-- have signed on to a Cicilline-authored bill reimposing a version of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban that was in place from 1994 to 2004. The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing Sept. 25 on the bill-- a significant step for Democratic leaders who have long treated an assault weapons ban as too politically risky." They reporters are incorrect about "a few Republicans" signing on to Cicilline's bill. Several have agreed to vote for it on the House floor but only one-- Peter King-- is a co-sponsor. "In a sign of the changing politics, several of those joining the assault weapons bill are freshmen Democrats who won suburban districts previously represented by Republicans. “I don’t really see any reason for ordinary citizens to own weapons of war,” said Rep. Susan Wild (New Dem-PA), who represents a moderate Lehigh Valley district."

The obstacles continue to be Republicans who argue that the Democratic bills would infringe on law-abiding gun owners’ constitutional rights while doing little to prevent the actual causes of mass shootings. That is a perspective shared with a highly motivated slice of the party’s conservative base and promoted by its most aggressive advocacy group, the NRA.

“My concern is that what’s being proposed is not going to solve the root-cause problem,” Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) told reporters in mid-August when asked about red flag laws.

But there is a rising concern in the GOP that the party is putting itself at risk if it doesn’t take some kind of action to address the epidemic of mass bloodshed.

“If we’re not willing to do the common-sense stuff, probably legislation will occur that we’ll regret, that will actually, I think, infringe upon Second Amendment rights down the road, so I’m going to be one that’s going to look to try to do something,” Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) told reporters Friday.

Several Republicans have expressed openness to federal legislation on red flag laws, which are also known as “extreme-risk protection orders,” including such influential lawmakers as Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey O. Graham (SC) and Sen. Marco Rubio (FL).

Daines suggested instead that juveniles who commit serious crimes or make felonious threats be prevented from purchasing weapons as adults-- a proposal that is getting serious consideration for inclusion in the White House package.

ABC News added that some groups are more likely to support gun control than others. "Among those who are very or somewhat worried that a mass shooting could occur in their community, 67 percent support banning the sale of assault weapons. That drops to 39 percent support among those who are less concerned about an attack occurring in their area. There are other big differences among groups when it comes to the assault weapons question. Women are 20 percentage points more likely than men to support banning the sale of these weapons, 65 percent versus 45 percent. While support is higher in urban areas than elsewhere, there’s a broad gap between urban women (of whom 73 percent support a ban) and urban men (of whom 52 percent do). And among political independents, 72 percent of women favor a ban, compared with 43 percent of men. Education is also a sharp divider. Support for banning assault weapons rises with more education, ranging from 72 percent of those with postgraduate degrees to 46 percent of those with no more than a high school diploma. But here, too, gender influences attitudes. Among women who haven’t gone beyond high school, 55 percent back an assault weapons ban; among their male counterparts, it’s 38 percent. Support for a ban reaches 71 percent among blacks, compared with 52 percent among whites. It differs by age, ranging from 63 percent among seniors to 49 percent among young adults. (Perhaps counterintuitively, support for banning assault weapons sales is higher among seniors even though they tend to be more conservative politically.) And politics is a very prominent factor, as likely will soon be on display in Washington. Eighty-one percent of Democrats support an assault weapons ban, compared with 55 percent of independents and 33 percent of Republicans."