The Senate returns to work this week with the real possibility that agreement is secured on what would be a nod toward acknowledging this country has a gun problem, but not really doing anything concrete about it. If a package comes together there, it will likely fall far short of the package President Joe Biden demanded in his address to the nation last week.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), the Democratic lead in the negotiations, told CNN’s Jake Tapper Sunday that he’s “never been part of negotiations as serious as these—there are more Republicans at the table talking about changing our gun laws, investing in mental health, than at any time since Sandy Hook.” But, and it’s a whopper of a but, he also said there’s a lot that’s not on the table, including the assault weapons ban Biden wants, or even comprehensive background checks.
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It’s also not likely to end the gun industry’s immunity from lawsuits, and Murphy said that there was opposition from Republicans for even raising the age limit for assault weapons purchases to 21.
All of which sounds like a pretty big capitulation from Democrats, especially on background checks, though some expansion of those checks might still be in the offing. Not comprehensive checks, but something. What else is possible, people involved in the discussions told the Washington Post, is a potential agreement to “encourage states to set up red-flag laws that would allow authorities to keep guns away from people thought to be a threat to their communities,” and “measures tackling school security and mental health.” Because the only thing that will stop a bad guy with a gun is a . . . door?
Murphy said that Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wants an agreement “by the end of this week.” That’s not a floor commitment, but agreement on something that could come to the floor. “I think that’s entirely possible.”
Reminding everyone that they’re steering this thing even though they have control over the Senate solely because they can stop it in its tracks, Republicans are being assholes even while negotiations continue. “We’re aware of the artificial timeline Senator Schumer has created,” a Republican staffer told the Post.
The House is also back and has cleared the schedule for the week to work on the package the Judiciary Committee forwarded last week. They will vote on a red flag bill, possibly working with the Senate to make it conform with what could possibly pass there, and the larger package. There’s some push from members to pass those bills singly, rather than as a group, in order to put maximum pressure on Republicans to vote against those bills over and over.
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer pushed back on that idea Friday, saying that the House will still take multiple and separate votes on each title of the package and on final passage “in order to place Republicans on record on each of these issues relating to gun safety,”
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“I don’t know what it means to vote on a title. I vote on legislation. That’s my job. I’m a legislator,” Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) responded Sunday in an interview with Politico. “So I want to take these one by one by one.”
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