Top Dems offer Trump a ‘historic’ deal on guns
WASHINGTON — The top two Democrats in Congress, seeking to ramp up pressure on Republicans to pass legislation extending background checks to all gun buyers, told President Trump on Sunday that they would join him at the White House for a “historic signing ceremony at the Rose Garden” if he agreed to the measure.
The offer, made by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader, during an 11minute phone conversation with Trump, comes as the president is considering a package of measures to respond to the mass shootings that have terrorized the nation in recent months. The three spoke only about gun legislation, according to aides.
Judd Deere, a White House spokesman, said in a statement that the conversation was cordial but that Trump “made no commitments” on a Housepassed background checks bill that Pelosi and Schumer are urging him to support.
Trump “instead indicated his interest in working to find a bipartisan legislative solution on appropriate responses to the issue of mass gun violence,” Deere said.
Pelosi and Schumer want Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, to take up the bill, but the senator has refused to do so without knowing whether the president would sign it.
The Democratic leaders’ offer to the president was a bit of public posturing; they know that it is unlikely that Trump will embrace the House bill, which is strongly opposed by the National Rifle Association, the nation’s largest gun lobbying group and a major backer of the president. Polls show that roughly 90% of Americans favor extending background checks, and Democrats believe gun safety is a winning issue for them with voters, but Trump has gone back and forth on the issue.
“This morning, we made it clear to the president that any proposal he endorses that does not include the Housepassed universal background checks legislation will not get the job done, as dangerous loopholes will still exist and people who shouldn’t have guns will still have access,” their statement said, adding, “We know that to save as many lives as possible, the Senate must pass this bill and the president must sign it.”
Their pressure continued a campaign on an issue that has dominated the political debate in Washington and on the Democratic presidential campaign trail since a string of mass shootings over the summer.
At last week’s Democratic presidential debate, former Rep. Beto O’Rourke of Texas, who has proposed a mandatory buyback program for assault weapons, declared, “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR15, your AK47.”
The comment quickly went viral, playing into the hands of Republicans who fight gun bills by warning that Democrats will violate Americans’ Second Amendment rights. It also turned into a headache for Democrats on Capitol Hill, who are trying to propose what they often describe as “reasonable” gun legislation and are singlemindedly focused on forcing Republicans to take up the background checks bill, having decided to drop a push for an assault weapons ban.