Faint cracks in House opposition to gun laws

Measure introduced Friday would bar some firearm sales

WASHINGTON — How has the Orlando shooting slaughter affected the politics of gun control in Congress? A bipartisan House measure barring firearms sales to some suspected terrorists nicely captures the mix of new and familiar forces in play.

The mere introduction Friday of a proposal backed by five Republicans and four Democrats highlights the post-Orlando, electionyear pressures some lawmakers feel for action. One sponsor said that when the House returns from its July 4 recess, they will push GOP leaders for a vote.

“The pressure will be continuous, it will be respectful but we’re not going to let go of this,” said Rep. Scott Rigell, R-Va.

Yet Rigell also said to get a vote, they must show that their support from colleagues “eclipses that of the NRA” — an acknowledgment of the National Rifle Association’s formidable clout in Congress.

No one expects lawmakers to broadly tighten gun curbs, even after the June 12 Orlando attack that left 49 dead, the worst massshooting in modern U.S. history.

Yet a few small cracks are showing in the grip that Republicans and the NRA have long had on the issue.

A look at the crosscurrents:

What’s different?

The new House bill is identical to a bipartisan compromise by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, that the Senate sidetracked with a procedural vote Thursday. The NRA-opposed measure would block gun sales to people on the government’s no-fly list and to those required to be extensively examined before boarding a plane.

Most Republicans voted “no,” saying it inadequately protected people erroneously on those lists.

Yet seven Republicans joined Collins in backing the bill, an unusually high number. One of her co-sponsors was Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., who often supports the NRA and faces re-election in 2018.

And Democrats?

Emboldened Democrats have taken the offensive on guns, an issue they’ve often avoided during campaign seasons.

Though the GOP controls Congress, Democrats commandeered both chambers with a 15-hour Senate filibuster and a nearly 26hour, old-fashioned sit-in on the House floor that won massive social media coverage.

It’s “a sea change” for Democrats to challenge the powerful NRA deep in an election-year, says Arkadi Gerney, gun policy expert at the liberal Center for American Progress.

Why the shifts?

Besides the sheer number of casualties and recent years’ spate of mass shootings, a political door has been opened by Omar Mateen, the Orlando perpetrator killed by authorities.

An American, Mateen pledged solidarity to the Islamic State extremist group and was once on the government’s terrorist watch list.

That’s let proponents cast the issue as one of national security — an easier political lift than gun control.

It’s also invited a bumper-sticker, common sense-sounding appeal: No-fly, no buy, shorthand for keeping people on the no-fly list from purchasing guns.