Posted on 10/07/2015 5:49:27 PM PDT by TroutStalker
Senate Democrats will begin a campaign to combat gun violence on Thursday as party leaders prepare to unveil a sweeping package of legislation that builds on their failed 2013 attempt to require universal background checks for gun purchases, according to senators and aides.
The goal is to have the entire caucus, minus perhaps one centrist Democrat, backing a legislative package aimed at preventing guns from ending up in the hands of the wrong people.
In addition to background checks, Democrats are aiming to add new money for the Justice Department’s existing background checks system that has recently faltered and include provisions to prevent domestic abusers from buying guns, sources familiar with the package said. The measure is also expected to include a proposal from Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) intended to cut down on gun trafficking, sources said.
The package, which will be discussed at a Thursday press conference but is unlikely to be officially introduced this week, also aims to ensure that all key records are sent to a federal database and would make straw purchasing a federal crime.
“We want to solve the problem and not just talk. So we’re putting forward something that’s solid and is supported by 90 percent of the American people,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), a leading advocate for stricter gun laws. “The critics of the Congress are right: We’re not doing enough to protect against gun violence, so we’re stepping up to show that we can do it.”
The proposal is not likely to get a vote under the reign of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), but Democrats say the package is intended to show that Democrats are serious about reducing gun deaths but can’t make headway in a Republican Senate. Republicans, led by Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas, are pitching changes to the U.S. mental health system as a preferred way to deal with mass shootings.
Democratic leaders are wary that their rank-and-file could defect and begin supporting the Cornyn bill, which is backed by the National Rifle Association and is not viewed by Democrats as an effective way to combat day-to-day gun violence in big cities like Chicago, Detroit, Baltimore and St. Louis.
“I sense almost a seismic shift in public reaction. It may just be the aftermath of the Oregon shooting but I really do think it will happen,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), referring to the massacre at a community college in Roseburg, Ore., last week. “That point will come. And it may not be everything we want but there will be steps toward gun violence protection.”
Senate Democrats are rallying around three key points: Closing loopholes in the current background checks system, toughening up background checks in general, and shutting down the illegal pipeline of guns.
"All three of these principles would bolster the background check system by strengthening it and stopping those who try to evade it," according to a Dear Colleague letter obtained by POLITICO from Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, who lead the Senate Democrats' policy and messaging arm. "These principles will be a rallying point for a public that is eager for Congressional action, and will be the basis for future legislation that we will demand receive a vote."
Democratic leaders are wary of making the kinds of compromises they did during a 2013 effort to combat gun violence, only to see that measure fall in the face of bipartisan opposition. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid won’t be able to attend the press conference on Thursday morning on the East Front of the Capitol (he is attending a funeral for a former staffer), but he wrote his caucus on Wednesday to urge a strong turnout among Senate Democrats.
“It is within our power to reduce gun violence and prevent mass shootings. Inaction is not an option,” Reid wrote in a separate Dear Colleague letter obtained by POLITICO. “We will again introduce a series of proposals to prevent those who should not have access to a gun from getting one.”
Democrats said that all their members except for Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota are expected to ultimately back the effort. Heitkamp said in an interview she wasn’t familiar with what her colleagues were planning but hasn’t changed her stance since 2013.
“We’ll look at it but I made my position pretty clear on background checks and I don’t plan on changing it,” Heitkamp said.
Heitkamp did support cracking down on straw purchases — where one person buys a firearm for someone else in order to evade gun laws — and gun trafficking in 2013, despite opposing the background checks legislation alongside three other centrist Democrats, all of whom are no longer in the Senate. Another conservative Democrat, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, still supports the background checks proposal he devised alongside Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) in 2013, but was not yet familiar with the new, larger package, an aide said. Hillary Clinton comes out against Obama's trade deal
What’s not clear is whether any Republicans would support the measure or if it would be a purely partisan political exercise. McConnell said on Tuesday that he’d “be taking a look” at Cornyn’s suggestion but aides declined to speculate on any imminent action on the issue. Toomey said in a brief interview that he’s "pursuing all options” to combat gun deaths.
But Toomey, one of the most vulnerable incumbents in the Senate, has not yet reintroduced his proposal with Manchin -- which Democrats view as an opportunity. Now that they are taking the lead, they hope to coax out positions from GOP senators up for reelection, putting them on the defensive as gun violence across the country continues. In addition to Toomey, Sens. Mark Kirk of Illinois, John McCain of Arizona and Susan Collins of Maine supported the 2013 background checks legislation; Kirk and McCain are also up for reelection next year.
Democratic sources said they are unlikely to offer their package as an amendment to unrelated legislation, instead pushing Republicans to either have a wide open gun debate or risk continued Democratic attacks. Republican aides declined to comment on legislation that has not been introduced.
Stop and frisk in ‘Rat Urban Utopias.
Bring it Nazis!!!
It will fail real bad. The bill should ban “gun free zones”.
“...supported by 90 percent of the American people,”
Really, better sterilize your hands figuring where you got that number...
Lies
Kirk will fold. He always does.
L
yet another Democrap initiative that McConnell and other majority Republican Senators can surrender to .
They had better not....
We don’t need NEW gun bills, enforce the ones already on the books...stop trying to re write the Constitution, it was written for a purpose, not at your disposal...
You keep messing around and your going to cause a riot here in America worse than what you see in the Middle East...
If you don’t like guns, then don’t like them, but don’t blame the ones of us that have the decency to register them and have a permit to carry them, go after the idiots your letting across the border and infiltrating our Country...
Don’t mess with this, it’s more than you dems are ever going to be able to handle....
Kabuki Theater from the Rat side.
Well, they can ‘ready’ it all they want. Or Barry can just use his pen and do it.
Enforcing it is a whole ‘nother matter.
It is funny; They all say “It is impossible to deport a few million” illegal alien invaders..... But they think that they will be able to confiscate 350 million firearms..... From people who won’t give them up. Half of whom are much better shots than your average cop, and 1/4th of whom are as good as or better than even your better trained and well practiced SWAT type.
If there were justice in the world, anyone who signs or otherwise votes for such laws or regulations should be required to be the first one through the door when time comes to collect them.
Ban Democrat nutcases.
The last 3 months have been records.....and that was before this.
Gun Run 2015 here we come!
Now we know why Boner’s taking the money and running!
...supported by 90 percent of the American people...
WOW! That many people support a federal database to ensure that all key records are kept?
Sorry, I'm not guying the BS you're selling.
The right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
D'Rat gun grabbers go to Hell.
edit...not buying the BS you’re selling.
“Heiitkamp did support cracking down on straw purchases — where one person buys a firearm for someone else in order to evade gun laws”
Isn’t that illegal right now?
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