Biden under pressure as Democrats step up demands for gun control after Colorado market massacre

He is one of a string of Democrats who took to social media or the airwaves to insist that “thoughts and prayers” are not enough in tackling America’s epidemic of gun violence. With White House officials’ collective attention already stretched managing a pandemic and economic recovery, rolling out a $1.9 trillion spending plan they pushed through Congress, and drawing up an even bigger infrastructure overhaul blueprint, the question is whether Biden has the political capital or bandwidth to take on Republicans over a major culture war issue.

So when the House recently passed two proposals stiffening background checks for gun purchases, it did so without so much as a White House statement. It leaves them facing an uncertain path in the Senate.

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The issue would almost certainly trigger a filibuster from the GOP side of the upper chamber — which brings a whole other political battle, said Robert J. Spitzer, professor at State University of New York and author of The Politics of Gun Control.

“We have a Democratic president and a marginally Democratic-controlled Congress that is willing to enact new gun laws, and this puts the spotlight on President Biden, who in his campaign platform had a laundry list of new gun measures he wanted to see Congress pass,” he said.

“He hasn’t talked a lot about the gun issue so far in his brief time in office, mostly, I think, because he has a very full agenda of things he wants to do.”

After a lull in mass shootings during the pandemic, the past week has brought dual horrors.

(David Zalubowski/AP)

A 21-year-man was charged with murder in connection with eight killings last week at massage parlors in Georgia. And on Tuesday, police identified another 21-year-old man as the suspect in the killing of 10 people at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado.

Kris Brown, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said: “The mass shooting yesterday in Boulder underscores how decades of intransigence and inaction have cost lives — over 600,000 in the last 20 years. While our country has spent the last year working tirelessly to combat a global pandemic, America’s gun violence epidemic has only been exacerbated and left unchecked.”

Biden received multiple updates on the attack and is expected to address the Boulder attack later on Tuesday.

One of his most senior advisers indicated that the White House was ready to move.

Cedric Richmond, who has been leading meetings with gun-control advocates, told MSNBC that the usual offer of “words and prayers” is simply not enough.

“We need action on this in the country,” he said. “This president has a track record of fighting against the NRA and beating them, and we need to make sure that we have sensible gun regulations in this country to ensure safety. And so we need action, not just words and prayers.”

Biden has already promised tough action. He authored the 1994 crime bill that included a 10-year assault weapons ban and campaigned last year on a manifesto to deliver a similar measure in office.

Last month, on the third anniversary of the Parkland school shooting in Florida, he spelled out his support for tough measures.

“Today, I am calling on Congress to enact commonsense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets,” he said.

But gun-control advocates know they face a difficult battle. A recent Gallup poll found that although a majority of people want stricter gun laws — at 57% it represented the lowest proportion in favor since 2016.

At the same time, sales of guns surged during the pandemic and last year’s police brutality protests, hitting a record high in January, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, an industry trade group.

Spitzer said the numbers did not suggest a huge shift in the country, as many of the past year’s buyers were already gun owners. And he said that Democrats had made inroads during the 2018 midterm elections running on gun-control platforms.

“There is a more recent track record that you can make an advance in this area despite the culture headwinds, but that takes you back to the immediate calculus that you have narrow majorities in both houses of Congress, and you’ve got a country that’s still struggling with economic recession, that has the pandemic, global warming, infrastructure decay,” he said.

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“It’s a long list,” Spitzer added. “How many chips do you want to put in the pile of gun law reform?”