Majority Leader Chuck Schumer took to the Senate floor Wednesday in the aftermath of the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting to call out the Republicans’ decades-long opposition to gun control legislation.
“Maybe the thought of putting yourself in the shoes of these parents instead of in the arms of the NRA might let you wriggle free from the vise-like grip of the NRA to act on even a simple measure,” the New York Democrat said. “For the sake of these children, these 9-year-olds, these 10-year-olds, these 11-year-olds, these beautiful children, please, damn it.”
The Democrats’ pleas to Republican colleagues reflect a long history of congressional inaction on gun control since a gunman killed 20 schoolchildren in Newtown, Connecticut, nearly a decade ago. Democratic lawmakers have introduced countless proposals that would have required a background check of the gunman in Texas. All failed to pass, mostly due to the filibuster.
Among those was a proposal to expand background checks sponsored by Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republican Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. It failed in April of 2013 despite support from four Senate Republicans.
Speaking to KUER freelancer Matt Laslo, Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney said that he’s open to looking at changes to federal gun laws.
“Background checks and updating our background check technology is something that I think is an appropriate federal responsibility,” he said.
Romney said he would take a look at the Toomey-Manchin proposal to see if it could be updated or changed to make it “more acceptable.”
The senator also said red flag laws “make a lot of sense.” Those give police and family the right to ask a judge to remove guns from people who may do harm to themselves or others. Romney said those are best administered at the state level and that states would be “wise to adopt them.”
Schumer pledged Wednesday to move forward on gun control legislation with or without Republican lawmakers.
