Pounded by a biased media and facing a tough 2020 election year, Republicans are stampeding past Democrats to see who can ban guns first.
“The wave of mass shootings coupled with Trump’s apparent interest presents perhaps the best opportunity Congress has had in years to try to curb gun violence,” POLITICO reports. “A series of interviews with GOP senators showed new openness to legislative action to halt the bloodshed, underscoring how malleable the Republican Party is under Trump — even on what has historically been a core issue for conservatives.”
Two Republican senators, Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Marco Rubio (R-FL), have introduced legislation creating a federal “red flag” law in which police will raid homes and seize guns from citizens who haven’t been accused of a crime, without due process of law.
Under “red flag” laws, police can go to a judge with unsubstantiated claims someone poses a threat and get a warrant to seize the accused’s firearms. The accused party is not informed of the accusation or allowed to contest it in court. Once the accused’s home has been raised and firearms seized, it’s up to him to hire and attorney and go to court to restore his rights.
Both bills are backed by Democrats, and could soon attract more Republican co-sponsors.
President Trump endorsed the plan months ago.
Trump also endorsed expanded background checks and dispatched daughter Ivanka Trump to Capitol Hill to build support for a 2013 background check bill Republicans defeated under Obama.
“Ivanka Trump has quietly been calling lawmakers since the El Paso and Dayton massacres to gauge their openness to movement on gun legislation when Congress returns,” Axios reports.
“Ivanka Trump spoke last Wednesday to Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), while he was vacationing in Hawaii, to get an update on the bipartisan background checks bill he proposed with Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Penn.),” Axios reports.
With a Republican president backing anti-gun legislation, GOP leaders are falling in line.
Long an obstacle to passing gun bans, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell now says he’s eager to hold a vote on passing them.
“McConnell told a Kentucky radio show last week that red flag and background check legislation will be ‘front and center’ in the discussions surrounding gun action after the August recess,” POLITICO reports.
“My gut tells me that Leader McConnell wants to bring something to the floor for a vote,” Sen. Mike Braun (R-IN) tells POLITICO. “This is the moment. When you have two incidents like that in the same weekend, I think conservatives and Republicans lose in the long run if we don’t do something to change the dynamic. And I’m about as hard a Second Amendment guy as there is.”
AAN Staff
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