Gun talks stall in Senate negotiation
Lawmakers miss Thursday deadline, will restart Tuesday
WASHINGTON - Senators left Washington on Thursday with key elements still in dispute on a delicate bipartisan deal that could significantly expand federal gun laws for the first time in three decades.
The lack of firm agreement could foil leaders’ hopes of holding a Senate vote on a bill next week, and raised the prospect that a framework agreement released Sunday might not be able to be translated into an actual bill.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, the top Republican negotiator, told reporters that he was “frustrated” about the lack of progress and tempered expectations that a deal could come together.
“I’m not as optimistic right now, but we’re continuing to work,” he said, leaving a meeting of the top four negotiators Thursday afternoon. He added: “We don’t have a deal about anything unless we have a deal about everything.”
Later in the day, he left the Capitol to catch a flight back to Texas, indicating that the ball was in Democrats’ court: “At some point, you’ve just got to make a decision and when people don’t want to make a decision . . . you can’t accomplish the result. And that’s kind of where we are right now.”
But another Republican closely involved in the talks, Sen. Thom Tillis, of North Carolina, struck a more upbeat note and said a bill could be written as soon as Friday. And Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., the top Democratic negotiator, told reporters he still expected a final deal to come together.
“It comes with a lot of emotions, it comes with political risk to both sides,” he said. “But we’re close enough that we should be able to get there.”
Many of those involved in the talks have viewed Thursday as a deadline to come to agreement on key provisions, allowing for final drafting to occur overnight and for a final bill to be filed Friday. That would allow Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to begin the process of setting up votes for next week, allowing the legislation to be passed ahead of a scheduled two-week recess.
But with no agreement on key sticking points Thursday, and most senators not returning to Washington until Tuesday, the timeline was in question.
“We need to work through the next 24 hours but . . . we are operating as if we’re bringing this bill to the floor,” Murphy said.
Among the toughest issues, senators and other people familiar with the talks said, is what is often called the “boyfriend loophole.” Under current federal law, domestic violence offenders who abuse their spouses or partners they have lived with or had a child with can be barred from purchasing firearms.
The framework proposed adding offenders who were in a “continuing relationship of a romantic or intimate nature” with their victim. But turning that broad definition into legislative language is difficult, senators said.