Advocates seek Biden push on gun bills, but prospects iffy

WASHINGTON » After President Joe Biden’s giant COVID-19 relief bill passed Congress, he made a primetime address to the nation and presided over a Rose Garden ceremony.

But there wasn’t so much as a statement from the White House after the House passed legislation that would require background checks for gun purchases, a signature Democratic issue for decades.

Biden’s views on gun regulation have evolved along with his party — at one point reluctant to impose too many restrictions that blue-collar Democrats opposed — to a near-unanimous call to do something about gun violence after a spate of mass shootings.

In the early months of Biden’s presidency, even popular proposals like background checks are lower on his list of priorities and their prospects in the Senate cloudy.

The two bills that passed the House last week would expand background checks on gun purchases, the first significant movement on gun control since Democrats took control of both chambers of Congress and the White House.

They are among a number of major bills House Democrats have pushed through in recent weeks, including legislation to expand voting rights and support union organizing, that now face an uncertain fate in the Senate. Supporters of the background check bills are hoping to see Biden become more actively involved.

“I hope and I expect that President Biden will be willing to get engaged in hand to hand advocacy in the Senate on background checks,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat who has led the push for gun control in the Senate.