BACKGROUND CHECKS AND RED FLAGS
A divided Congress tries to muster compromise on gun violence
WASHINGTON — In February, four months after the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Squirrel
Hill, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on a bill to require background checks on private firearm sales.
All but two Democrats voted for it, ensuring its passage onto the Senate, where the bill has sat ever since. All but eight Republicans — including all four Western Pennsylvania Republicans — voted against it.
That type of partisan divide has gridlocked Congress on federal gun policy for years, even as the nation has witnessed a steady raft of mass shootings, each as horrific as the last, in schools, places of worship, concerts, festivals, dance clubs and a Walmart store. Pleas to stem the violence have constantly run up against Constitutional concerns and a powerful gun lobby.
Yet as lawmakers left Washington for their five-week summer recess, three shootings in the span of a week have heightened calls on Capitol Hill to pass restrictions on who should have access to a gun — and how it might be taken away.
The shootings, which killed a total of 35 people and injured dozens of others in California, Texas and Ohio, were carried out by people who left behind a trail of troubling signs.
Last week, some Republicans, including President Donald Trump, signaled support for the background checks and a socalled “red flag” law, which would allow police or family members to get a court order to temporarily take away firearms from someone they believe poses a threat.
“I hope, if nothing else, the accumulated pain or so many of these horrific experiences will be motivation to do something,” Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., told reporters last week as he pressed for his background checks proposal, first introduced in 2013 alongside Sen.
Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.
Mr. Toomey also said he wants a “red flag” measure and a law that would allow those who attempt to purchase guns illegally to be prosecuted.
‘Perfect place to start’
Katherine Phillips, federal affairs manager at the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said background checks are “clearly the most fundamental policy” and “the perfect place to start.”
Pew Research Center puts background checks as the most popular gun policy, with 91% of Democrats and 79% of Republicans in favor, according to a December 2018 post. A poll earlier that year by Quinnipiac University found two-thirds of Americans favor stricter gun laws, with 97% approving of background checks.
House Democrats made background checks one of its first legislative priorities after taking control of the chamber in January, but the Republican-controlled Senate has not brought it up for a vote.
“It’s been sitting there because [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell doesn’t have the courage to put it on the floor,” Ms. Phillips said. “It’s incredibly frustrating for people across the United States.”
Democratic lawmakers and governors have put pressure on Mr. McConnell, a Kentucky Republican.
Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills, and Rep. Conor Lamb, D-Mount Lebanon, were among 214 House members who signed a letter demanding Mr. McConnell call the Senate back in session this month to vote on the background check legislation.
“The House passed H.R. 8 and H.R. 1112 more than 160 days ago,” Mr. Doyle wrote on Twitter last week. “It’s time for the Senate to do the same! #EnoughIsEnough.”
Bob Casey, D-Pa., also wants the Senate to end the recess to pass gun control legislation, including an assault weapons ban and a limit on the size of magazines. He said Mr. Trump shares the blame in the rise of hate crimes because he “uses white nationalist rhetoric and engages in racism.”
“We don’t have to live like this,” Mr. Casey said. “Politicians who refuse to take action to reduce gun violence are complicit in this carnage.”
Western Pennsylvania Republicans remain largely opposed to gun legislation. All four of them voted against the background checks bill in February. They would not commit to supporting “red flag” laws.
Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, wrote on Twitter last week he was “praying ... for an end to these senseless and tragic acts of violence.” A statement from his office said he wanted to address “mental health in America and our ability to identify the early warning signs of potential mass murderers” while also “safeguarding the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans.”
Mr. Kelly voted against background checks in February because “a significant percentage” of gun crime is committed with stolen weapons and that shooters “aren’t likely” to seek a background check if they’re required. He called background checks an “annoyance to lawabiding Americans that do not fix the problems Democrats claim to be solving.” His office last week would not comment on “red flag” legislation.
Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Peters, said he supports efforts to prevent shooting, co-sponsoring the Mass Violence Prevention Act of 2019, which authorizes the U.S. Justice Department to provide more resources to law
enforcement.
Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Centre, said he would consider “red flag” laws so long as “any interventions will need to take into account due process and uphold additional constitutional protections.”
“Progress on this front is going to take a concerted effort from both sides of the aisle,” Mr. Thompson said.
Mr. Trump, who visited the grieving cities of El Paso and Dayton on Wednesday, said “there’s a great appetite, and I mean very strong appetite, for background checks” on gun purchases and for “red flag” laws.
The “red flag” laws, also known as extreme risk protection orders, have been passed in 17 states and Washington, D.C., and have support from many conservatives and gun rights scholars.
Last week, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, announced plans to introduce a “red flag” bill with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. Mr. Trump “seems very supportive,” Mr. Graham said in a statement. “Many of these shootings involved individuals who showed signs of violent behavior that are either ignored or not followed up.”
Mr. Graham, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, held a hearing in March on how to structure such a law.
A law with limits
David Kopel, research director at the Denver-based Independence Institute and prominent gun rights advocate, testified that he would favor a law that limits requests for temporary firearm seizure orders to law enforcement officials. Allowingfamily members, romantic partners or educators to initiate a court proceeding leaves “the potential for a malicious or insincere accusation.”
In an interview last week, Mr. Kopel said there’s “a respectable chance that the Graham bill will become law.”
David French, a senior writer for the National Review and gun rights advocate, wrote in a column last week that “red flag” laws can catch more potentially dangerous people than a background check while also giving gun owners due process.
“There is one place where gun owners and gun-rights opponents meet: Americans who have demonstrated by their own conduct that they’re not fit to own a weapon should not be allowed to own a weapon,” he wrote.
Some Republicans have gone beyond those proposals.
Rep. Mike Turner, a Republican whose southwestern Ohio district includes Dayton, said he would vote for an assault weapons ban and limits on the size of gun magazines. Mr. Turner is a favorite of the NRA, which has given him an “A” rating andhas been “solidly pro-gun.”
But Congressional Republicans, by and large, remain in staunch opposition to an assault weapons ban.
Mr. Toomey said last week he could not support a ban on the weapons, as they are “extremely popular” with Americans and “no more lethal” than hunting rifles. His comments were derided in multiple statements by Pennsylvania Democratic Party and Lieutenant Gov. John Fetterman, who wrote on Twitter: “Vote. Him. Out.”
Amid the furor and debate, Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley showed pessimism speaking alongside Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, at a press conference last Wednesday.
“Do I think that we’re going to see another mass shooting tomorrow, or Friday?“she said. ”Probably, because Washington will not move.”