Congressional Democrats on Monday revived efforts to pass gun control measures following this weekend’s terrorist attack that left 49 dead and dozens more injured in Orlando. But barring a fundamental shift in the political status quo on Capitol Hill it will be exceedingly difficult for them to pass any policy changes before the election.
Responding to reports that gunman Omar Mateen used an AR-15 assault rifle to mow down innocent revelers in a gay nightclub, Senate Democrats said they would force a vote on a proposal that would bar people on the terror watch list from buying firearms.
“This is the first thing we’re going to attempt because it’s the most relevant,” Charles Schumer of New York, one of the Senate’s top Democrats, told reporters Monday. “That is not to say we wouldn’t do other things.”
A vote on the proposal could come as soon as this week in the form of an amendment to a 2017 spending bill for the FBI and Justice Department.
But Democrats are unlikely to be successful in attaching such a provision to the must-pass federal spending plan if a December vote is any indication. The same amendment was defeated on a party-line vote of 54-45 then, shortly after shootings in San Bernardino, Calif., left more than a dozen people dead.
Republicans at the time said Democrats were looking to capitalize on the grief of the moment and worried that passing such a policy could lead to people who were wrongfully placed on the terror list being denied their constitutional right to buy guns.
Senate Democrats on Monday indicated that the Orlando shootings may not have occurred had Congress passed the provision since Mateen had been previously investigated by the FBI for ties to terrorism. Schumer said this weekend’s events could persuade Republicans to revisit the issue.
“We believe we’ll do better than we did last time. … Unfortunately, circumstances are going to force them to see the light and not just bow in obeisance to the NRA, whose positions are just simply extreme,” Schumer said of Republicans and the National Rifle Association.
The NRA’s website and Twitter account remained quiet on Sunday and Monday. Gun Owners for America tweeted, “No matter how tragic, no amount of gun control could’ve stopped evil.”
Some Democrats also called for action on other gun control legislation, including measures that would require background checks, restrict people convicted of hate crimes from obtaining firearms, and reinstate a ban on the civilian purchase of assault weapons. U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Atlanta, on Monday advocated for the latter policy, which was in place from 1994 through 2004.
“How many more must die? How long must we wander through this dark killing field filled with the broken bodies of hundreds — even precious little children — before we finally take strong action against the accessibility of assault weapons in this country?” Lewis said in a statement.
The road ahead
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton also pushed for significantly curtailing the availability of assault rifles during a speech in Cleveland.
“We have to make it harder for people who should not have those weapons of war. And that may not stop every shooting or every terrorist attack, but it will stop some and it will save lives and it will protect our first-responders,” Clinton said.
While Clinton refrained from mentioning presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump by name, the billionaire offered a much more pointed critique of the former secretary of state and said he planned to meet with the NRA to “discuss how to ensure Americans have the means to protect themselves in this age of terror.”
“The bottom line is that Hillary supports the policies that bring the threat of radical Islam into America and allow it to grow overseas,” Trump said.
In addition to strong opposition from gun proponents such as Trump and the NRA, there are several reasons why a Democratic push is unlikely to be successful before November.
A thin calendar designed for lawmakers to campaign for re-election this summer and fall means that there are very few in-session weeks after July 4 for any substantive work to be completed. Second, Senate Republicans are fighting to maintain their majority in the chamber this November. Any legislation that could harm their chances at doing so will likely be avoided.
Republicans on Monday chose to focus their responses to the Orlando shootings on beefing up the U.S. offensive against the Islamic State, given that Mateen reportedly pledged allegiance to the group in a call to the police after he began shooting. Most were also wary about any proposal that could restrict the accessibility of weapons to law-abiding Americans.
“You have to be very careful about abridging constitutional rights,” U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution during an editorial board meeting Monday. “Just because someone’s buying a weapon doesn’t mean they are a killer. But taking away someone’s right to buy weapons will not take away the right for killers to buy guns.”
Isakson, who is running for a third term in November, instead said it was time to declare a “no holds barred” war against Islamic terrorism and said the remaining presidential candidates should commit to sending more ground troops to the areas where the Islamic State is taking hold.
“There’s only one thing you can do with people who will kill themselves to kill you, burn you in a cage on the town square or blow themselves up,” Isakson said. “We’ve got to kill them first. That ought to be our mantra.”
The mood on Capitol Hill was somber throughout most of the day as lawmakers returned to Washington for the first time since the shootings. Flags flew at half-staff across the Capitol grounds, and both the House and Senate observed a moment of silence for the victims of the attack.
House Republican leaders reportedly met privately Monday afternoon to mull their legislative course of action. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was noncommittal in a floor speech.
“We will also be receiving a briefing on the Orlando attack on Wednesday,” he said. “But today is a day for sorrow and remembrance.”
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