House, Senate Democrats push gun control bills in Congress

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill on Monday where House and Senate Democrats immediately called on President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans to pass and sign into law legislation that would expand background checks for weapons purchases.

The House passed a bill before the August recess to tighten background checks, legislation that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has refused to bring to the floor for a vote in the upper chamber.

Since then, mass shootings in Gilroy, California; El Paso, Texas; Dayton, Ohio; and Odessa, Texas, have put pressure on federal lawmakers to act.

“We are meeting with anyone who will listen to us,” said Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, who attended an afternoon news conference to announce that community leaders were in Washington to urge the Senate to act.

Whaley said the House-passed bill would prevent some of the violence that has raged over the summer.

“It’s something that can save lives,” Whaley said of the bill.

The National Rifle Association did not immediately return a request for comment. But the NRA opposes background check legislation and firearm registration. The group said most mass shooters pass background checks, legally obtaining weapons used in the killings.

McConnell told conservative radio interviewers last month that he would not bring gun control legislation to the Senate floor without the support of the president. But McConnell also has called House Democratic legislation radical and out of step with middle America.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the House-passed bill just closed loopholes from previous background check legislation passed years ago. The latest bill would require checks for online sales and private purchases of weapons at gun shows. (Gun sales conducted by federally licensed dealers in gun stores or at gun shows already require a background check.)

“This isn’t radical,” Pelosi said. “It’s an expansion of what has already been successful.”

Nevada Democrats have backed gun control legislation, citing the Oct. 1, 2017, tragedy that left 58 dead and hundreds wounded.

The Las Vegas shooter purchased his guns legally and attached bump stocks to semi-automatic assault weapons, devices that have now been banned due to a rule change by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms at Trump’s direction. Nevada’s Legislature in 2019 also passed a law that outlaws any device that increases the rate of fire of a semi-automatic firearm.

Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., is one of several lawmakers who have filed a bill that would outlaw high-capacity ammunition magazines, like those used in Las Vegas, Dayton, El Paso and Gilroy.

House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said his committee planned to take up the bill in coming weeks.

Although Trump has voiced support for background checks in the past, he has changed his position and has called on a bipartisan group of Senate lawmakers to look into legislation that includes “red flag” bills that would take guns away from people who could pose a threat.

Trump told reporters at the White House that many different things were being discussed, but Senate Republicans or the White House have yet to release specific proposals or legislation.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told the Capitol Hill news conference that red flag bills the president has discussed would be useless if someone identified as a threat could still purchase a weapon online or at a gun show, a loophole the background check would close.

“Too many Americans are losing their lives to gun violence,” Schumer said, noting that 51 people were killed in mass shootings in August alone.

“Enough is enough,” he said.

Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.