Senate Democrats will try to force a vote on legislation that would block people on a federal terror watch list from purchasing guns, in the wake of the Orlando mass shooting Sunday.
Senate Republicans blocked the legislation in December after arguing that the terror watch list is often error-ridden and includes many innocent people.
But Democrats believe the Orlando shooting, which killed 49 people and injured more than 50, will provide new impetus for their measure, sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. All but one Republican voted against it last year.
“The circumstances are going to force them see the light instead of bowing in obedience to the NRA, whose views are extreme,” Sen. Chuck Schumer, N.Y., the No. 3 Senate Democrat, told reporters Monday.
Schumer said Democrats will attempt to attach the legislation to an upcoming Senate spending bill, which is generally a must-pass measure. “We will find a way to bring this to a vote,” Schumer said.
The FBI interviewed Orlando shooter Omar Mateen twice in the years prior to the shooting but did not find enough evidence to arrest him or interrogate him further.
The terror watch list is not made public. Mateen was on that list, but was removed, lawmakers said Monday. Schumer and other Democratic lawmakers said even if Mateen was not on the list, the Feinstein bill could have stopped his purchase of two weapons prior to the attack.
“This individual could have been on a terrorist list and could have been prevented from buying the guns used in this terrible massacre,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said in a press call with reporters.
The Feinstein bill would give federal authorities the power to prevent gun purchases from people who are not on the watch list if the FBI believes there is a “reasonable chance” a person might use a gun for a terrorist attack.
“Would they have block Mateen’s gun?” Schumer asked Monday. “I think it’s likely but we’ll never know because this law was not on the books.”
Republicans told the Examiner that on the same day the Feinstein legislation failed, Democrats blocked a GOP measure that would have delayed gun purchases by those on the terror watch list.
The measure, sponsored by Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, would have required the notification of federal officials if a person on the terror watch list attempts to purchase a gun. The Cornyn measure would have delayed the purchase for 72 hours to allow for an investigation into the buyer.
The measure would have created an expedited court procedure that would give the attorney general a chance to block the purchase if the federal government can show probable cause for preventing it and take the person into custody.
