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4 Key Questions as Senate Considers New Gun Safety Measures Senate Fails to Advance 4 Gun Safety Measures
(about 13 hours later)
WASHINGTON — A series of gun safety measures will hit the Senate floor Monday night — two offered by Democrats and two by Republicans — in response to the mass shooting in Orlando, Fla. WASHINGTON — The Senate on Monday failed to advance four separate measures aimed at curbing gun sales, the latest display of congressional inaction after a mass shooting.
The dynamics of the gun debate have changed little in Congress in recent years, despite high-profile shootings in places like Charleston, S.C.; Newtown, Conn.; and San Bernardino, Calif. Most Republicans and a handful of Democrats, mindful of public support for gun rights and well financed by the National Rifle Association, have largely balked at attempts to close loopholes in background check laws and to prevent those accused of domestic abuse and those on terrorism watch lists from getting firearms. Eight days after a gunman claiming allegiance to the Islamic State killed 49 people in an Orlando nightclub, the Senate deadlocked, largely along party lines, on amendments to block people on the federal terrorism watch list from buying guns and to close loopholes in background check laws. As the votes were held, families of gun violence victims looked on from the Senate chamber.
Here are four key questions before Monday’s votes: Further action on gun safety measures or mental health provisions seemed unlikely before the fall election, given the rush to finish a series of spending bills and the relatively limited time that Congress will be in session before November.
1. What exactly are senators voting on? In addition, the four gun measures were attached to legislation that contains several other thorny issues, such as the question of whether to take passports away from terrorism suspects, which suggests there will be little chance for further debate.
Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, has drafted a measure that could prevent anyone included on the federal terrorism watch list and other terrorist databases from buying firearms or explosives. Democrats tried unsuccessfully to pass this measure after the San Bernardino shooting in December. Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, has been working on a compromise, disliked by both party leaders, that would bar the sale of guns to terrorism suspects who appear on either the government’s no-fly list or the so-called selectee list of people who receive additional scrutiny at airports. That bill, which is not as broad as the Democratic watch-list measure that failed on Monday, could surface later in the week.
Republicans, arguing that the list of people affected would be too broad and that the measure would not offer proper due process, have put forward a competing one. That bill would require the government to delay, during a 72-hour review period, the purchase of a gun by anyone who is a terrorism suspect or has been the subject of a terrorism investigation within the last five years. Both measures are expected to fail. Partisanship and the power of the gun lobby played a large role in the amendments’ failure. Democrats structured their bills in a way that was almost certain to repel Republicans, while Republicans responded with bills equally distasteful to Democrats.
Senator Christopher S. Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, who led a filibuster last week of an appropriations bill to make a point on guns, has written a measure to tighten background checks for gun buyers at gun shows and on the internet. Senate Republicans have offered a bill, advertised as a competing measure, that is more focused on the nation’s mental health system. Democrats are likely to vote against that measure because they prefer Mr. Murphy’s. Republicans, in turn, dislike the Murphy measure. Democrats vowed to hammer Republicans during the campaign this fall.
The House speaker, Paul D. Ryan, has made it clear that there will be no rush in the House, either. “We’re going to take a deep breath and make sure that this is done correctly, so that the policy of making sure that the authorities know, and have time to respond to if a person who was on a terrorist watch list is trying to buy a gun, that they’re notified,” Mr. Ryan said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “Our constituents see a disturbing pattern of inaction,” Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, said on the Senate floor on Monday. “Sadly, our efforts are blocked by the Republican Congress, who take their marching orders from the National Rifle Association.”
2. Will any vulnerable Republicans who are up for re-election in November join with Democrats to vote for the Feinstein terrorism measure or for the bill on background checks? Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, the highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, introduced one of the failed measures, which could have prevented anyone on the federal terrorism watch list and other terrorist databases from buying firearms or explosives. Democrats tried unsuccessfully to pass this measure after the shooting in San Bernardino, Calif. in December.
It is possible, but it is just as likely that even fewer Republicans will say yes than in the past. Senator Patrick J. Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, does not support the background check measure, even though he and Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, wrote a similar but narrower bill in 2012 after the Newtown massacre. “It’s time for us to stand up,” Ms. Feinstein said. “That’s not too much to ask.”
Two senators to watch are Susan Collins of Maine, who is not up for re-election, is wildly popular at home, and is often bipartisan on gun control, and John McCain of Arizona, who has been making his familiar moves to the right in an election year. Both voted in favor of the Toomey-Manchin bill. Another to watch is Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, who voted against that bill but is now up for re-election and has been arguing that she supports some gun safety legislation. Republicans, arguing that the list of people affected would be too broad and that the measure would not offer proper due process, put forward a competing measure. That amendment would have required the government to delay, during a 72-hour review period, the purchase of a gun by anyone who is a terrorism suspect or has been the subject of a terrorism investigation within the last five years.
3. How soon after Republicans vote against these measures will Democrats go up with attack ads citing their stances on guns? “No one wants terrorists to be able to buy guns or explosives,” Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, said on the Senate floor on Monday.
It has already happened. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida has not even said whether he will run again, but Democrats are attacking him on the gun issue. Ms. Ayotte has also faced attacks. “This is a pretty important difference between Republicans and Democrats,” Mr. Murphy said in an interview. “So as we head into the fall, I expect it will remain an issue.” The two other measures that failed included one offered by Senator Christopher S. Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, who led a filibuster last week to make a point on guns. His measure sought to tighten background checks for gun buyers at gun shows and on the internet. Republicans offered a measure that was more focused on the nation’s mental health system.
4. What next? The Obama administration, which has been pushing for a variety of new gun control legislation, vowed to press on.
Ms. Collins, trying to bridge the gap between Republicans and Democrats, is drafting a measure that would bar the sale of guns to terrorism suspects who appear on either the government’s no-fly list or the so-called selectee list of people who receive additional scrutiny at airports. It is not clear whether her measure will get a vote. “The view of the administration is that the American people should be engaged in the debate,” Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said on Monday. “So the fact that this is something that is being actively debated and considered in the Senate does represent incremental progress.”
In the longer run, advocacy groups and members of Congress on both sides of the gun debate will continue their push at the federal and state levels, even as the nation remains divided on the issue. Further, as an article on the website of The Washington Post noted, the gay community, which was targeted in the Orlando attack, is now looking at taking on the issue, which could broaden the coalition. “I’m in this for the long haul,” Mr. Murphy said. “I can’t tell you the response I’ve received from people who have never cared about this issue before.” Donald J. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has largely — if often incoherently — supported the positions of the majority of Republicans, who want to preserve gun rights. Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has made her support for gun control a central tenet of her campaign.
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Mrs. Clinton’s Democratic rival, voted with the party from a desk in the Senate chamber, where he sat, looking glum, as colleagues came to greet him.
The votes came on the same day that the Supreme Court declined to hear a Second Amendment challenge to a Connecticut law, enacted in 2013 after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, that bans many semiautomatic rifles.
The Senate measures seemed doomed almost as soon as they were offered. After the Sandy Hook massacre, a bipartisan background check measure failed, even though Democrats controlled the Senate. Democrats, now in the minority, replaced that measure with one, sponsored by Mr. Murphy, that would expand background checks to all gun sales except loans and gifts between family members. Republicans said it was too broad. And even Senator Jon Tester of Montana, the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, voted against it.
Democrats rejected the response measure, focused on mental health provisions, as insufficient.
Still, some Republicans in tough re-election fights had to consider each measure carefully. One of them, Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, said both measures to prevent terrorists from getting guns were inadequate, but voted for both.
While the politics of gun control tends to recede in general election campaigns, the Orlando shooting has brought the issue back to the front burner.
“We will keep pushing,” said Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, “until they see the light.”