As Congress faces another deadline to pass a spending bill or risk the third government shutdown in three months, lawmakers see an opportunity to advance gun violence prevention measures that have previously stalled in Congress.
Members of both parties who have advocated for the passage of legislation to curtail gun violence in the wake of a deadly high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, are hopeful their proposals will be included in this week’s omnibus government funding package.
One candidate is a bipartisan proposal put forward by Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn and Connecticut Democrat Chris Murphy to bolster current laws that can prevent violent criminals from obtaining firearms. The so-called Fix NICS bill, despite having significant support, has not yet come to the Senate floor for a vote.
During a March 13 press conference, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters he was “extremely interested” in seeing Cornyn’s Fix NICS bill pass the Senate along with a school safety bill, adding, “The best way to get that done is still under discussion.”
One House source told THE WEEKLY STANDARD on Monday night that Fix NICS remains an “open item” in omnibus negotiations, and several Senate Republican aides expressed optimism when asked about the prospect.
The bill would reinforce current records-sharing laws in order to compel various agencies to share information with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which is used to prevent individuals with criminal backgrounds from purchasing firearms. Cornyn introduced the bill last winter in the aftermath of a shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas, that left 26 people dead. The shooter had previously been convicted of domestic abuse while serving in the Air Force, which would have disqualified him from buying a gun, but the Air Force failed to share the information to the NICS.
Also potentially wrapped into the appropriations bill could be a ban on bump stocks and a bipartisan school violence prevention act that would offer grants to schools in order to improve security and training to the tune of $75 billion for fiscal year 2018, and $100 million annually for the next decade.
“I think we could do something very significant before we leave this week, and I hope we do,” Cornyn told CQ Roll Call’s Jennifer Shutt when asked about various gun bills Monday afternoon.
President Donald Trump offered his support for Cornyn’s Fix NICS proposal last month, and it also has approval from the National Rifle Association. The measure would not impose any new gun control measures, and Democrats argue it would not be sufficient alone to address mass shootings. But support continues to grow; Cornyn announced on the Senate floor on Monday afternoon that the bill had garnered 73 co-sponsors.
Conservative Republicans such as senatorsMike Lee and Rand Paul, however, have expressed concerns with due process protections. Their opposition would likely not be enough to kill the effort, as the omnibus is a bipartisan piece of legislation and support from Democrats can be expected. But as Paul proved during the last spending lapse, a single peeved senator has the power (depending on the House’s timing) to delay votes and trigger a brief government shutdown if they object to unanimous consent requests to speed up the Senate’s voting process past the shutdown deadline.
The $1.3 trillion omnibus is expected to boost defense spending by $80 billion and non-defense domestic spending in turn by $63 billion, in accordance with a massive bipartisan two-year budget deal struck by congressional leaders in February.
Lawmakers hope to release text of the omnibus sometime Monday night.
