Murphy casts doubt on gun bill odds

Senator says president has wavered on expanding FBI background checks

Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut on Friday said any attempt by Congress to approve a bill expanding FBI background checks of gun purchasers has a “less than 50-50” chance of success.

During a news conference in Hartford, Murphy said he spoke with White House legislative staff several times, most recently on Thursday evening, about support for new gun laws in the wake of mass shootings earlier this month in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.

Murphy said President Donald Trump has wavered since he telephoned the Democratic senator to talk about new gun legislation.

“One weekend ago, the president called me and told me personally that he was indeed serious about moving forward together about what he called meaningful background checks legislation,” Murphy said. “Several days ago, some of his comments seemed to indicate that he was again backing away.”

Since the shootings earlier this month, in which 31 people were killed, Trump has spoken several times to Wayne LaPierre, chief executive of the National Rifle Association.

“He’s talking to the gun lobby much more frequently than he’s been talking to me,” Murphy said of Trump.

Trump echoed an NRA talking point at a recent rally in New Hampshire, saying gun violence is mainly a “mental-illness problem” and that “it is not the gun that pulls the trigger; it is the person holding the gun.”

And several days ago, the president told reporters that closing loopholes in the FBI’s background checks of potential gun purchasers may be a “slippery slope” that threatens Second Amendment rights.

Still, Murphy said White House officials told him the president is still committed to legislation to expand background checks. He also said the president is supportive of a separate bill being drafted by Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Sen Lindsay Graham, R-S.C. on “red flag” laws that allow the temporary seizure of weapons from those who are determined to be a danger to themselves or others.

Murphy also said if the president’s promise of support for those gun measures is “a ruse ... we will know in short order.”

“I made it clear to the White House that if they are going to give the NRA veto power,” this would be “a waste of time,” Murphy said, adding that any attempt by the president to tie the greater institutionalization of people with mental illnesses to a background check bill is a “nonstarter.”

“He’s talking to the gun lobby much more frequently than he’s been talking to me.” SEN. CHRIS MURPHY, D-CONN., ON PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP