Gun debate heaps pressure on congress
Is this a watershed, or just more of the same?
WASHINGTON: Lawmakers will return to Washington on Monday facing intense public pressure to break their decadeslong gridlock on gun control, a demand fortified by a bipartisan group of governors calling for Congress to take action to protect against mass shootings.
But even as members of both parties said it might be difficult for Congress to remain on the sidelines after the school massacre this month in Parkland, Florida, lawmakers have no clear consensus on even incremental changes to gun restrictions, let alone more sweeping legislation.
Over a week-long recess, Republican leaders in both the House and the Senate remained largely silent on gun legislation, a reflection of the significant obstacles to passing even modest measures this year.
Many Republicans fear primary challenges from the right in the mid-term elections this fall and do not want to be pushed into difficult votes. Democrats are not eager for legislation that they deem too incremental. And with lawmakers of both parties looking to wrap up their work to focus on their campaigns for re-election, the time to pass any significant legislation is running short.
If the past is prologue, Congress will do nothing. But governors who gathered in Washington for their annual winter meeting warned of the perils of inaction. Animated by a wave of polling since the Florida massacre, Democratic governors warned that candidates would pay a political price for opposing new gun regulations, and some of their Republican counterparts conceded that the pleas of voters could no longer be ignored as they increasingly abandon the party.
“I think for Republicans, our challenge in the next race is going to be about appealing to the suburban vote that hasn’t been so good for Republicans the last few races,” said Governor Bill Haslam of Tennessee, citing in particular suburban women. It is clear, he added, that “people want to see action”.
The combination of political pressure from the governors and moves by President Donald Trump to embrace certain limited measures opposed by the National Rifle Association (NRA) could set up a congressional showdown with the powerful firearms lobby not seen since the gun debate that followed the deadly school shooting in 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut.
While the Newtown massacre and the many that have followed have produced familiar scenes in which Democrats push for tough new gun restrictions and Republicans dig in and resist, the latest mass shooting appears to have shifted the landscape, even if just slightly, as the Parkland students have become overnight gun control advocates and media fixtures.
A smattering of congressional Republicans — including some who have been staunchly opposed to gun control legislation — now suggest that they would be willing to take at least small steps toward restricting gun rights.
Republican Arizona Senator Jeff Flake is partnering with Democratic California Senator Dianne Feinstein on legislation that would raise to 21 from 18 the age threshold for purchasing assault weapons like the AR-15 used to kill 17 people in Parkland.
A poll released by CNN on Sunday, which showed support for stricter gun laws at levels not seen since the early 1990s, found 71% of Americans backed barring those under 21 from buying any type of firearm.
“I don’t know if crossing the Rubicon is the right historical analogy, but there is a sense that this is different,” Mr Flake said, adding, “Where the public is and where some Republicans have been on some of these issues just doesn’t match, and I do think we’re going to have to deal with it.”
At the governors’ meeting, there was agreement on the issue between Democrats and some Republicans. “We do it for alcohol; we’re talking about raising the age for tobacco to 21,” said Republican Utah Governor Gary Herbert. “I think that’s worth talking about.”
Democratic Connecticut Senator Christopher Murphy said that with such talk among Republicans, “this feels like a watershed moment”.
“You’re seeing some significant and meaningful cracks in the bond that traditionally holds the Republican Party together,” he said. “The question is: Are those cracks enough to get something done?”
Gun rights advocates said the answer was no. “This has shown no different a dynamic than any of a dozen fights over the past two decades,” said Michael Hammond, legislative counsel for Gun Owners of America, which has fought gun control measures for decades. “People who, after a week, suggest that this is a tipping point either weren’t around during previous battles or failed to learn the lesson.”
Some Republicans, warning against a rush to enact new laws, appeared inclined to respect the wishes of the NRA, even as the group came under pressure from some corporate leaders, who were moving to cut ties with it.
“I think there’s a temptation just to do a whole host of things that are not really addressing the fundamental problem but would make people feel better that they’ve done things,” said Governor Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, who has deep ties to the NRA, explaining his opposition to raising the age limit.
In the House, 19 Republicans, led by Leonard Lance of New Jersey, sent a letter on Friday to Speaker Paul Ryan, calling on him to schedule a vote on a measure that would require states and federal agencies to do a better job of reporting legal and mental health records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS.
But the bill, called the Fix NICS Act, which is backed by the NRA and Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Republican, is modest. It would not expand the number of gun sales subject to background checks, and it does nothing to close loopholes that allow guns to be sold over the internet, or at gun shows, without background checks.
The bill has passed the House, but it was included in a broader measure that would permit the carrying of concealed firearms virtually anywhere in the country. That provision is a nonstarter in the Senate, which is why Mr Lance and his colleagues are pushing for a stand-alone vote in the House.
If the latest push for tighter gun restrictions has any better chance of success than the ones that came before, it is in large part a result of the fierce lobbying effort by the student advocates, including those from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the site of this month’s mass shooting.
“We have a group of articulate and smart students who are very angry, and they have captured the attention of our country, including members of Congress,” said Mark Kelly, a founder of Giffords, an advocacy group named for his wife, Gabrielle Giffords, who was grievously wounded during a 2011 mass shooting in Arizona.