Democrats to start moving gun control legislation through Congress



The House Judiciary Committee will reportedly meet in emergency session Thursday for the Democratic majority to mark up a series of gun control bills in the wake of the mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas.

Democrats want to vote on gun control and campaign on GOP opposition to it as the nation is still roiling from the shocking murders of 19 elementary school children and two teachers in Texas by a deranged gunman last week. They have introduced eight bills related to the issue and are calling their omnibus legislation the "Protecting Our Kids Act."

The bills would raise the age requirement to buy a semi-automatic rifle from 18 to 21 years old; make it a federal crime to import, sale, manufacture, transfer, or possess high-capacity magazines, with a grandfather clause for existing magazines; require existing bump stocks to be registered under the National Firearms Act; bans new bump stocks; codify the Biden administration's new regulations on so-called ghost guns; crack down on straw purchases for firearms; and create new requirements for storing guns at home where minors are present.

According to Punchbowl News, Democratic leaders plan to bring the omnibus gun control package to the House floor early next week, where it is expected to pass. Right now they are ironing out the details on whether to bring up all the bills at once or vote on them individually.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her leadership team reportedly discussed action on guns after the massacre at Robb Elementary School last week and the racially motivated murder of 10 people at a Buffalo grocery store two weeks before.

"We felt like we needed to do something big and comprehensive after two mass shootings in two weeks," a Democratic aide told NBC News.

However, everyone recognizes that major gun control legislation has no chance of passing the U.S. Senate, where 60 votes are needed to overcome a filibuster from Republicans. It's not even clear that the 50-member Democratic majority could pass a gun control bill without the filibuster, as Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has previously opposed measures that would expand federal background checks — objecting to how these bills would apply to private transactions.

Still, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) gave his assent to begin bipartisan negotiations on some form of gun legislation last week. Reports indicate there may be small bipartisan consensus on a bill that would incentivize states to adopt so-called red-flag laws, which would permit police or family members of individuals believed to be a danger to themselves or others to seek a court order to have that person's guns taken away.

Schumer blocks bipartisan school safety bill in Senate after deadly shooting



Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) blocked a school safety bill introduced by Republicans but supported by members of both parties hours after chastising the GOP for allegedly doing nothing to prevent gun violence in schools.

Following Tuesday's deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 children and two adults were horrifically murdered by a disturbed gunman, Democrats have clamored for new gun control laws and accused Republicans of being complicit in the murder of children through inaction. But when Republican Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin introduced a school safety bill on Wednesday afternoon, Schumer blocked it.

"GOP Sen. Johnson just tried for a bill that could see more guns in schools—I blocked it," Schumer boasted on Twitter. "The truth: There were officers at the school in Texas. The shooter got past them. We need real solutions."

The Democratic leader was referring to reports that a school police officer at Robb Elementary School exchanged fire with the gunman but was unable to stop him from entering the building and massacring an entire 4th grade classroom. Fox News' Bill Melugin reported that the school officer, as well as three local policemen were injured in the shooting before a Border Patrol officer was able to kill the gunman.

However, the school safety bill Schumer blocked was not legislation that would "see more guns in schools," as the Democratic leader claimed.

Johnson had requested unanimous consent to pass the Luke and Alex School Safety act — a bill that would codify the Federal Clearinghouse on School Safety into law. The clearinghouse is currently available at SchoolSafety.gov and provides parents and educators information and recommendations on best practices to "prevent, protect, mitigate, respond to, and recover from a range of school safety threats, hazards, and emergency situations."

The website is maintained by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in partnership with the Departments of Education, Justice, and Health and Human Services. Johnson's bill would create a codified structure for the clearinghouse so it would become a permanent primary resource operated by the federal government to give best practices and recommendations for school safety to state and local school administrators. The bill would require that state and local governments be notified about the availability of this resource for schools.

The Luke and Alex School Safety Act is named for Luke Hoyer and Alex Schachter, two students killed in the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Lawmakers in both parties have previously supported the bill, which was unanimously passed out of committee twice.

"There's nothing partisan about this bill whatsoever. It's just a good idea that could save lives," Johnson said in remarks after reintroducing the bill. "It was such a good idea, that under the previous administration, they set up that clearinghouse. It's up and it's operating. So all this bill does at this point is serve as a model for what's happening. All this bill does now is codify it to make sure this clearinghouse stands the test of time – that it will always be there to provide the best practices on school safety."


Schumer implies no gun control legislation will come to the floor until after November elections



Though he decried a "plague of gun violence" in America on the Senate floor Wednesday, Democratic Majority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer seemed to suggest there will not be an immediate vote on gun control legislation as the nation reels from the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Instead, he urged voters who care about the gun issue to head to the polls this November and vote for lawmakers who represent their interests.

"A plague, a plague upon this nation, a plague of gun violence that has taken over the country," Schumer said in a speech denouncing Republicans for opposing legislation passed by the House that would expand background checks for firearm purchases.

"The problem in the Senate is simple: Too many members on the other side of the aisle are disconnected from the suffering of the American people. Too many members on that side care more about the NRA than they do about families who grieve victims of gun violence," he said.

A fierce election-year debate over gun control has reignited in America after a deadly shooting in Buffalo, New York, claimed the lives of ten people on May 14 and now a massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, left at least 19 children and two adults dead, according to CNN.

Republicans and Democrats condemned the shooting and expressed sympathy for the grieving families of the victims, but Schumer and other Democrats say thoughts and prayers are insufficient and ineffective — that laws need to be passed to make it harder for people to obtain firearms.

"They talk of the real villain being mental illness and say nothing about the fact that we are a nation suffocating in firearms," Schumer said of Republicans.

"It's far too easy for people to access weapons in this country and then to use them to slaughter people, slaughter children, by the dozens," he asserted.

But Schumer acknowledged political reality in the Senate — that bipartisan compromise is "unlikely" and that Democrats do not have 60 votes to overcome a filibuster and pass either of the two gun background check bills passed by the House during President Joe Biden's term.

"There are some who want this body to quickly vote on sensible gun safety legislation, legislation supported by the vast majority of Americans: Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike. They want to see this body vote quickly so the American people can know which side each senator is on — which side each senator is on," Schumer said.

"I'm sympathetic to that," he continued. "And I believe that accountability votes are important. But sadly, this isn't a case of the American people not knowing where their senators stand. They know. They know because my Republican colleagues are perfectly clear on this issue, crystal clear. Republicans don't pretend that they support sensible gun safety legislation."

Instead of a Senate vote, Schumer alluded to the upcoming midterm elections in November, when he said "Americans can make a choice."

"Americans can reject the Republican guns-at-all-costs doctrine, obeisance to the NRA, not even working for the most simple, sensitive, positive, and popular gun legislation. Americans can cast their vote in November for senators or members of Congress that reflect how he or she stands with guns, with this issue — this issue — at the top of the voters' lists."

If the Senate cannot agree on a "strong bill that has bipartisan support," which Schumer reiterated was "unlikely," then he said Democrats will "continue to pursue this issue on our own. We have no choice. It's too important. Lives are at stake."

After Schumer spoke, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) addressed the Senate, calling the Uvalde massacre "literally sickening."

"It's literally sickening, sickening to consider the innocent young lives that were stolen by this pointless, senseless, brutality," McConnell said.

"The entire nation's hearts are broken for the victims and for their families. Words simply fail."