Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday that he would give bipartisan Senate negotiators more time to reach a deal on gun violence legislation. The New York Democrat previously indicated he would give negotiators until the end of the week to reach an agreement, or else Democrats would bring their own legislation to the floor.
UVALDE HOUSE HEARING FEATURES EMOTIONAL TESTIMONY AND TENSE PARTISAN EXCHANGES
“This morning, my colleague Sen. Murphy reported that the group is making good progress, and they hope to get something real done very soon,” Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor, referring to Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), a lead negotiator in the talks, along with Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).
The House on Wednesday passed a raft of gun reform bills after several recent mass shootings across the country, including one at an Uvalde, Texas, elementary school last month that left 19 children and two adults dead.
The House legislation would raise the required purchasing age for semi-automatic weapons from 18 to 21 and ban high-capacity magazines and bump stocks for civilian use, in addition to other new restrictions. But the House bill is unlikely to be taken up by the Senate, where bipartisan negotiations on a gun bill are still ongoing.
Senate Democrats would need to win at least 10 Republican votes in order to meet the upper chamber’s 60-vote filibuster and send any gun bills to President Joe Biden’s desk. Likely components of a Senate deal, should it be reached, could include certain measures some Republican senators have indicated they would support, such as incentivizing states to pass red flag laws or enhanced background checks.
Cornyn, who represents the state where the Uvalde school shooting took place, said in remarks on the floor Thursday that one possible area of agreement between the negotiators is requiring states to upload juvenile records into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.
The group of negotiators also includes Murphy, whose home state experienced the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting a decade ago and who pleaded with Republicans to negotiate with him in a floor speech after the Uvalde shooting.
Schumer added that “as soon as the bipartisan group comes to an agreement, I want to bring a measure to the floor for a vote as quickly as possible.”
“I hope that very soon, we can see a deal come together,” he said. “I encourage my colleagues to keep their talks going, so we can act on it very quickly.”
Cornyn had asked for more time in remarks directed to Schumer Thursday on the Senate floor.
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Thursday she would “welcome” a bipartisan Senate deal on gun legislation, even if it were more narrow in scope than bills passed by the House this week.
“If it’s life-saving and can make a difference, and they have bipartisan support for it, then we would welcome it, even though it won’t be everything that we want,” said Pelosi.
