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Key senators said Sunday there is a growing push to forge a bipartisan congressional response to recent mass shootings that could tighten federal gun laws for the first time in a generation. But there is still no agreement, they warned, and delicate talks are expected to continue for a few more days as negotiators seek enough Republican support to get a compromise bill in the Senate.
If an agreement is reached, it will surely fall far short of the parameters set out by President Biden in a White House speech on Thursday, when he called for the renewal of the federal ban on assault weapons, which expired on Friday. 2004, as well as a significant expansion of the federal government. background checks of gun buyers and removal of immunity from the firearms industry in the face of lawsuits.
But a proposal that would encourage states to enact red-flag laws that would allow authorities to keep guns away from people who are considered a threat to their communities or to themselves continues to be widely discussed, as well as measures that address school safety and mental health, according to the people involved in the debates.
“It’s a very hard sleigh. But I’ve never been in such serious and thoughtful conversations before, and I know all the Republicans and Democrats at the table are there with all sincerity to reach an agreement,” .) the Democratic negotiator said in an interview Sunday.
Senator Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.), Another member of the small group of senators who is aiming for a possible deal, told CBS’s “Face The Nation” that the discussions, though “intensive,” they do not “guarantee any results”. . ”
“But I think we’re closer than we’ve been since I’ve been in the Senate,” said Toomey, who led a failed effort in 2013 to expand criminal background checks for gun buyers after the Sandy Hook Elementary School. shooting.
Negotiators, and Democratic leaders, have seized on a growing sense of national outrage following the May 14 attack that claimed 10 lives in a Buffalo supermarket and the May 24 massacre of 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Others have followed shootings with multiple casualties, including incidents in Tulsa; Ames, Iowa; and overnight Saturday in Philadelphia and Chattanooga, Tennessee. By the way, there have already been more than 200 mass shootings in 2022.
The latest in school shootings in the United States
Public opinion polls show strong support for expanding background checks for gun buyers. Polls conducted after mass shootings often show strong support for stricter gun laws – 54 percent versus 16 percent who want less stringent laws, according to a May CBS News / YouGov poll conducted after Buffalo but before d’Uvalde, although this support tends to recede as public attention fades.
After seeing previous attempts at negotiation fail while violent incidents came out of the headlines, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (DN.Y.) noted last month after the Uvalde shooting that he had limited patience for long conversations. He gave the group 10 days, until the Senate returns on Monday from a one-week recess, to show substantial progress toward an agreement.
Murphy said he spoke with Schumer on Sunday morning and that the deadline has been extended, modestly. “I still feel we have to come to an agreement later this week,” Murphy said, adding, “I think that’s totally possible.” Schumer spokesman Justin Goodman did not address the timeline, but said the senator supports the bipartisan group and hopes to be able to discuss his proposals with the Democratic caucus this week.
Asked about the pace of negotiations, a GOP aide familiar with the negotiations said, “We are aware of the artificial timeline that Senator Schumer has created.” The aide spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the conversations frankly.
Senator John Cornyn (Tex.), Who is leading talks for Republicans, said Thursday in an interview that he shared a sense of urgency. “I think we have to act and act relatively quickly,” he told The Washington Post. “We could lose this opportunity to do what we could to save lives, which for me is what it’s all about.”
While Republicans have long emerged as inflexible gun rights advocates, encouraged by a voting base that includes millions of gun owners, there are indications that Republican lawmakers may have more room for negotiation than in the past.
An open letter published Sunday in the Dallas Morning News signed by more than 250 prominent Texas Conservatives supported Cornyn as “the right man to lead this bipartisan effort.” The signatories also passed a federal red flag law and extended background checks.
In an interview on Friday, the key Democrat negotiating a federal red-flag arrangement, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Said he was encouraged by the progress that had been made in this aspect of the negotiations.
Blumenthal said he and Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (RS.C.) had reached an agreement between the two on a basic framework for legislation that would create a system of incentives, subsidies and federal standards for states that create their own. red flag laws. But he said details were still being explained as the discussion shifted to a wider group of bipartisan negotiators. A Graham spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
It is unclear, Blumenthal said, whether any iteration of the proposal could get the required 60 votes, which would mean a minimum of 10 Republicans if all 50 members of the Democratic caucus support an agreement.
“It’s not final until it’s final, and we need 60 votes,” he said. “Now we go beyond the two of us to 10, and we also have to be aware of 60 of us, because all the optimism in the world won’t save lives if we don’t do it by law.”
As for background checks, conversations are still ongoing. Any agreement would be much more limited than previous expansion proposals, such as legislation drafted in 2013 by Toomey and Senator Joe Manchin III (DW.Va.).
Cornyn said Thursday he is willing to consider expanding the scope of criminal records that can block arms sales under the federal instant background check system to include juvenile records. This could theoretically block a sale to a young gun buyer who has been convicted of a criminal act in sealed juvenile proceedings but has no adult record.
The Buffalo and Uvalde attacks involved 18-year-olds and legally purchased weapons. It is not yet clear in both cases if there were any records of minors who could have blocked these sales.
Cornyn said he favored a “limited, careful and confidential look back” to ensure that young arms buyers are more closely monitored. “If they had been an adult with that same record, they would have been disqualified by the background check system,” he said.
“We all agree that violent criminals and people with disorders and dangerous mental illnesses should not have guns,” Toomey said Sunday. “So we need a mechanism to increase the likelihood that this person will be identified and prevent them from legally buying a weapon anyway.”
Other proposals related to school safety and mental health have been presented both during private debates and in public forums. Graham tweeted a proposal Friday to “create a certification process that allows former military personnel to go through school safety training” and bring weapons to schools.
“Our schools are soft targets,” he said. “They contain our most valuable possession: our children, the future of our country, and they must be protected.”
While Democrats have tended to react coldly to proposals that would arm school staff, Murphy on Sunday tentatively backed Graham’s idea. “There is no doubt that there will be a greater demand for school safety officers. It would be perfectly appropriate and, in some way preferable, for veterans with significant training to fill these positions,” he said.
Other elements that are likely to be included in a package are significant federal funding for both school safety and mental health programs. Murphy said he thought Republicans in Congress might be willing to follow the example of Florida lawmakers after the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Within a month, a GOP majority legislature and a GOP governor in the state enacted legislation that included significant new arms restrictions and $ 400 million in funding.
“I don’t think we’re copying anyone else’s law; we’re going to have to come up with a one-time commitment in the Senate,” Murphy said. But he praised the gun provisions, funding for mental health and money for school safety provided by Florida law: “This makes a lot of sense and is consistent with the discussions we’ve had.”
On Thursday, in a rare national address at prime time, Biden advocated for relatively far-reaching proposals, such as a ban on assault weapons. But he acknowledged that the current Congress, with a 50-50 Senate and a narrow majority in the House, would probably not want to embrace them.
He suggested more modest alternatives, such as raising the minimum age for the purchase of assault weapons from 18 to 21. Even so, negotiators have said in recent days, conservatives are unlikely to be reluctant to ban firearms or ammunition of any kind.
Biden’s general request, however, was for Congress to do something, anything, to break nearly three decades of inaction on guns: “Enough, enough, enough,” he said to close.
Biden calls on Congress to act on guns at prime time
Although he supported the bipartisan talks on Thursday, he also added an inquiry to the GOP: find it inconceivable. “
This came to the ears of Republican senators and aides who were perplexed by Biden’s decision to …