Dems take aim Pressure Mitch to act quickly on gun curbs
Democrats tried Tuesday to push Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to pass gun legislation, bringing victims of gun violence to the Capitol to urge passage of background check bills before Congress returns from vacation.
Soon after the recent mass murders of dozens of people in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, Democrats decided the quickest option to start curbing more horrific shootings was for the Senate to pass two bills already approved by the House. McConnell could take steps to do so, but has not, although background check proposals are highly popular with most Americans.
“It takes no courage to put on the Senate floor a bill that is supported by 90 plus percent of Americans,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (DMd.), apparently suggesting McConnell is beholden to the NRA. “What takes courage is to look a special interest group in the eye and say enough is enough. It is time to act,” Hoyer said.
One of the House bills would close loopholes that allow guns to be sold or transferred without background checks. The other would extend minimum time limits for background checks.
McConnell (R-Ky.) could call the Senate back, or offer the bills during recess because the upper chamber has been conducting pro forma sessions — where senators come in for just a couple of minutes, then gavel out. The sessions aim at preventing the president from making recess appointments while Congress is away.
If no other senators objected, McConnell could pass bills by unanimous consent. He has refused, saying he has tasked three committee chairmen with working with Senate Democrats to come up with proposals that they think will get bipartisan support. President Trump has threatened to veto the two House bills.
The Democrats’ event was called just ahead of a pro forma session on Tuesday that last less than a minute and did not take up any business.
“We need to highlight the fact that the Senate is not moving on this,” Rep. Eliot Engel (D-Bronx) told the Daily News after the event. “It is frustrating. How many more killings are we going to have to witness before the Senate moves? Are we going to have to wait for the next election when the Democrats hopefully get a majority in the Senate? Well, how many people will be killed between now and then?”
Making the point in a more personal way were victims of gun violence.
Christian Heyne, a vice president with the gun control group the Brady Campaign, got involved in advocacy after his father was shot and mother killed in a 2005 shooting rampage in California. “We need action right now. Mitch McConnell has bills on his desk right now,” said Heyne. “Every day that those bills are not signed into law, more people will experience what we live through every single day. The cost of this inaction — the cost of Mitch McConnell not bringing these bills forward — let’s be clear — is human lives.”
Standing with him was Wendy Edmonds, whose sister Sylvia Frasier was killed in the 2013 mass slaughter at the Washington Navy Yard.
“At what point are you outraged Senate leader McConnell?” Edmonds said.
McConnell has said he will address the legislation in September when Congress returns from its month off.