Democrats Ready Gun Control Push After Uvalde

President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats plan to use the mass shootings in Uvalde and Buffalo to push new gun control legislation before the midterms.

Summary

President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats plan to use the mass shootings in Uvalde and Buffalo to push new gun control legislation before the midterms.

• President Joe Biden said “rational Republicans” give him hope for potential gun control legislation as a bipartisan group of Senators met to discuss legislative options.
• He appeared to suggest banning ‘high-caliber weapons’ but that has not been seriously considered even by congressional Democrats.
• House Democrats plan to introduce a package of gun control legislation entitled the “Protecting Our Kids Act.”
• The proposed legislation would:
  • Raise the purchasing age for semi-automatic rifles to 21
  • Ban the sale of high-capacity magazines and bump stocks
  • Require background checks for so-called “ghost guns”
  • Increase federal criminal penalties for straw purchases and gun-trafficking
  • Create new requirements for storing guns in the home

• The Washington Post covered President Biden’s visit to Uvalde, where some mourners urged the president to pursue what Biden called “common-sense” gun control legislation.
• In dramatic fashion, The New York Times called Chuck Schumer’s decision to wait for bipartisan gun talks – an actuarial necessity for any gun control legislation to succeed – “a test of the Senate – and of democracy itself.”
• Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) confirmed to CNN that a bipartisan group of negotiators would meet on Tuesday to discuss possible paths for gun-related legislation in the closely divided 50-50 Senate.

• Fox News covered Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to seize on Uvalde to institute draconian gun control measures in the Great White North, including a handgun ownership ‘freeze’ and a mandatory ‘assault-style weapons’ compensated confiscation program.
• The Washington Examiner reported Biden’s calls for new gun control measures have not yet materialized into actual negotiations with Senate Republicans. Ten members of Senate G.O.P. are needed for any gun control measure to pass the Senate.
• National Review wrote about what’s missing in the gun debate: the paradox that gun control laws are enforced on the ­law-abiding, not the law-breaking, and that 80 percent of murders in this country are committed by people with prior arrest records.

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© Dominic Moore, 2022