Senate Democrats said they will introduce a gun control bill that would expand background checks, ban certain weapons, and give the courts the power to temporarily take guns away from people who are deemed to be a threat to themselves or others, after President Trump offered support for these goals in a White House discussion Wednesday.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the only way to advance the measure in the GOP-led Senate is with the endorsement and help from President Trump. He described a scenario in which the Senate could pass Schumer’s proposal with mostly Democratic support and a few Republicans encouraged by Trump.
“The NRA has had the Republican Party in a headlock for decades,” Schumer said. “Only the president — this president — will have the power to overcome their strength and get his Republican allies on Capitol Hill to move to a place that embraces common sense gun safety policies.”
Schumer acknowledged GOP leaders aren’t likely to simply bring up the proposal for a vote without pressure from the president. He said he has not yet spoken to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., about the bill.
“The president is the first step,” Schumer said, adding that McConnell will not likely bring up the bill “without the president’s persuasion.”
Trump on Wednesday upended the stalled gun control legislation debate during a televised meeting with lawmakers in which he appeared to side with Democrats. During the meeting, Trump told lawmakers he endorsed universal background checks, raising the age for gun purchases, and said he would even consider supporting a ban on guns like AR-15 style rifles like the one that was used in the high school shooting in Florida last month.
Trump also called for taking guns away from the mentally ill and worrying about due process issues later.
Schumer’s proposal would allow family and law enforcement to petition a court for protective orders that “temporarily disarm” people who have demonstrated that they are a threat to themselves or others.
While many Republicans recoiled at the president’s posture on gun control, elated Democrats are now moving quickly to put down in legislation many of the Trump-endorsed ideas that align with what Democrats have long strived to turn into law.
Schumer said the specifics of the Democratic bill, including the language for universal background checks and court-ordered gun confiscation, would come later.
“These comprehensive proposals are designed to plug a wide range of loopholes and deficiencies in our gun safety laws,” Schumer said Thursday.
The third leg of the Democratic proposal, which would ban what Democrats say are “assault-style” weapons, is a nonstarter with most Republicans.
Schumer suggested Democrats are willing to give up some parts of the bill. He said he would at least be willing to discuss a provision to arm teachers and school administrators, which Trump has also endorsed, if it is part of a deal to pass the Democratic proposal.
“To get these things done, I’m not drawing any lines in the sand,” he said.
Senate Republicans this week tried to quickly pass a bill that would bolster reporting to the National Criminal Instant Background Check System, or NICS.
It was blocked by Republicans seeking fixes to due process problems in the NICS system. Democrats also opposed quick passage because they wanted to expand it to include at least universal background checks, and as a result, the bill has stalled.
