Dems acknowledge gun safety talks will fall far short of what they want. They’re desperate for a deal anyway — and seem willing to take whatever the GOP will give them.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks during a news conference following the Democrat policy luncheon meeting on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, June 7, 2022, in Washington. | Manuel Balce Ceneta/APSenate Democrats acknowledge bipartisan gun safety talks will fall far short of what they want. They’re desperate for a deal anyway — and seem willing to take whatever the GOP will give them.
“There are no red lines … I give my proxy to both Chris Murphy and Martin Heinrich on the two different working groups to speak for me,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand , who is urging those two Democratic senators to prioritize gun trafficking in negotiations. Though they don’t emphasize it publicly, Democrats believe there’s a good chance that internal GOP divisions scuttle any gun safety deal in the end. That means they barely have to lift a finger to watch the issue vex Republicans.
For Democrats facing perhaps just a few more months of full control of Washington, responding to a shooter who killed 19 children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, is proving a complex balancing act. And though Democrats are outwardly deferential to Murphy and his negotiating partners, Sens. John Cornyn , Kyrsten Sinema and Thom Tillis , they are still pushing behind the scenes to shape the legislation.
“I don’t think that Mitch McConnell wants anything in it. It should be an assault weapon ban. It should be people under 21 shouldn’t be able to buy any kinds of guns like that. It should be a three-day waiting period. It should be background checks and red flag laws,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown . “But McConnell won’t.”
“You have tens of thousands of [offenses] that, had they been committed 18 or over, would have been a disqualifying event,” Tillis said, emphasizing negotiators were closing in on a broad agreement. “When I talk to folks who are concerned about expanding the background check, they weren’t aware those kind of crimes weren’t relevant in issuing an approval to purchase a firearm.”
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