Congress in holding pattern
WASHIN G TON» Congress is stuck in a holding pattern on tougher gun restrictions after a string of mass shootings that killed 53 in August alone as lawmakers wait for President Donald Trump to decide how he wants to respond.
White House aides briefed Republican senators on potential legislative options at their private weekly luncheon Tuesday — including possibly expanding the federal background check system for gun buyers and encouraging states to create systems to temporarily seize guns from individuals judged to be dangerous — but they gave no indication of what Trump himself is willing to sign into law, exasperating some of those present.
“There was no, even, hint as to where the president is going to come down,” said one senator, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private meeting with Eric Ueland, the top White House legislative affairs aide, and other administration officials.
Speaking to reporters afterward, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., confirmed that Trump has yet to weigh in on the subject and scolded Democrats for pushing him to call up a House-passed background-checks bill that Trump has vowed to veto.
“They are working on coming up with a proposal that the president will sign,” he said. “Until that happens, all of this is theatrics.”
But Democrats, seeing firm political advantage in pushing for decisive action on gun violence, have not been shy about ramping up the pressure. Senate Democrats invited the mayor of Dayton, Ohio, Nan Whaley, to address their own lunch to discuss the Aug. 4 shooting in her city that left nine with fatal wounds in fewer than a minute. Outside the Capitol, Whaley and other leaders of cities touched by recent mass shootings rallied with gun-control advocates for congressional action.
The party’s congressional leaders told their Republican counterparts that it was not acceptable to wait for Trump, who has constantly shifted his position on remedying gun violence, to decide what he wants.
“I’d say there’s one word that describes Mitch McConnell’s attitude on this vital issue of life and death, and that is: Duck,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. “He’s afraid of this issue, but that’s not what a leader should be doing.”
In the Democratic-majority House, a committee prepared to advance a trio of gun control bills Tuesday, setting up floor votes on new measures that go beyond the expansion of federal gun-buyer background checks that Democrats have focused on for years.
Asked about gun legislation Monday, Trump declined to say when he might roll out a proposal: “We are talking about a lot of different things. But at the same time, we have to protect our Second Amendment very strongly, and we will always do that.”