House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told President Donald Trump Sunday that anything short of the universal background check bill passed by the House “will not get the job done.”
According to Politico, the two promised a joint Rose Garden appearance if the President pushed Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to pass it in the Senate.
Trump has also floated interest in red flag laws, and has been in communication with Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Chris Murphy (D-CN) and Pat Toomey (R-PA).
McConnell has made clear that he won’t allow any legislation on the floor without an ironclad promise of support from Trump, and is well aware of the President’s fickleness on gun control particularly.
Sigh. Universal background checks is the way to do nothing while giving the appearance of doing something.
As far as I can tell, only One of the recent mass shootings could have been possibly prevented by it (the dude that drove around in the postal van shooting people).
Since nothing is going to pass MoscowMitch, may as well go for real reform and stick it to the Republicans.
Yes this is ALL political posturing. The question is - “Go BIG” as you suggest, which would certainly ‘trigger’ the Cons. (Arguably Beto’s recent statement regarding taking away 'your AR’s is such a statement)
Or go ‘sensible’ - which has it’s own worth as propaganda. Mitch wouldn’t even allow a vote on something as REASONABLE as this…
Each set of posturing has a different target and set of values.
I err on the side of going for actual fixes. Doesn’t even need to be a full ban at this point. Could be as simple as restrictions on ammunition purchases and elimination of magazines with more than, say, 10 round capacities.
Something like that could actually change the death toll at the next mass shooting.
The danger of just going with the background checks is that, if the republicans allowed it to pass, then they’d sit on their hands, say that there’s nothing else that needs to or can be done.
I’ll just sit and wait for Mitch to do absolutely fuck all until the next time we have “Thoughts and Prayers”
Then it will be “Too Soon” to politicize it.
AMIRITE Moscow Mitch?
Sure I can see your point. And completely agree with that approach - especially on magazines and bump stocks and such.
And I also think that using someone like Beto as ‘the crazy uncle’ and Pelosi as ‘the reasonable Aunt’ - can push the Overton Window to the left on the debate itself.
IF the target is the Unicorn Middle - then getting them triggered by ‘We’re COMING FOR YOUR ASSAULT RIFLES’ - and then placating them with “Let’s ‘settle’ for back ground checks” can move them - then I’m okay. Each succeeding change then - must be accomplished by shifting the window. “Okay -we’ve done background checks - you’ve still got your military grade civilian assault rifle - now let’s work on the magazine/clip limit”
It’s just another way of shifting the window.