Topline
The mayors of 70 cities that have endured mass shootings this year called on Senate leaders to pass stalled gun control legislation before the end of the year –but Senate Democrats have expressed doubts that the bills could come to fruition during the lame duck session, citing a lack of Republican support and a busy end-of-year calendar.
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) (L) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) … [+]
Key Facts
New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D), Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) and Buffalo, New York, Mayor Byron Brown (D), among others, sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday demanding the Senate pass a bill that would ban most assault-style rifles and expand background check requirements for gun purchasers.
The assault weapons ban, which passed the House in July, would outlaw certain semi-automatic weapons and large-capacity magazines, and the Background Check Expansion Act, which passed the House in March last year, would require background checks for the transfer of firearms between private (or unlicensed) individuals.
The mayors, speaking to Republican concerns about the assault weapons ban, declared “it does not in any way infringe on Second Amendment rights,” and the Background Check Expansion Act, they wrote, “would close serious loopholes in the background check system.”
Key Background
The pleas from the mayors follow calls from President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress to take up the assault weapons ban expeditiously in the wake of two mass shootings in November in Chesapeake, Virginia, and Colorado Springs, Colorado. Democrats have expressed hesitance that the Senate has the votes–or the time–to pass the legislation before the end of the year, however, including Democratic Sens. from Connecticut, Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal, who negotiated passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act earlier this year. That bill strengthens background check requirements, provides funding for communities to implement violence-intervention and mental health services, and prohibits people accused of abusing their dating partners from purchasing a gun. It also offers incentives for communities to enact so-called “red flag” laws. However, it left out some Democrat-backed reforms, and Republicans are reportedly hesitant to take on another major piece of gun legislation so soon after its passage, which was the first major gun-control reform enacted by Congress in 30 years.
Surprising Fact
Republican mayors in two cities where mass shootings occurred last month did not sign the letter: John Suthers, the mayor of Colorado Springs, where police said a gunman used an assault-style rifle to kill five people at an LGBTQ nightclub on November 19, along with Rick West, mayor of Chesapeake, Virginia, where six people were killed in a shooting at a Walmart on November 22. Lawmakers in both Chesapeake, and El Paso County, Colorado, where Colorado Springs is located, have passed legislation to declare themselves “Second Amendment Sanctuaries,” signaling they will legally contest, and in some cases refuse to enforce, gun restrictions imposed at the state or local levels.
Further Reading
Senate Lacks Votes To Pass Assault Weapons Ban, Sen. Murphy Says—As Other Gun Bills Remain Stalled (Forbes)
Colorado Club Q Shooting Suspect Reportedly Evaded Red-Flag Laws—Here’s How The Law Works (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2022/12/05/mayors-call-on-senate-to-pass-stalled-gun-control-bill-by-end-of-year—but-lawmakers-are-hesitant/