Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are urging President Trump to support a universal background check requirement for the purchase of firearms.
“We spoke to the President separately this afternoon and told him the best way forward to address gun violence in our country is for Leader McConnell to let the Senate take up and pass the House-passed universal background checks legislation and for the President to sign it into law,” the Democratic leaders said in a joint statement.
“The President gave us his assurances that he would review the bipartisan House-passed legislation and understood our interest in moving as quickly as possible to help save lives,” they added.
Save lives? Universal background checks would not have stopped either of the two recent mass shootings. Both gunmen legally possessed their firearms so how would a universal background check requirement made a difference? The anti-Second Amendment crowd are quick to offer “solutions” to a ill-informed public but their “solutions” almost never would prevent the tragedies they are exploiting for their agenda. What percentage of firearms are sold privately that we need to stop that practice? Has anyone asked them that question?
Pelosi is also agitating that Trump force Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to call the Senate back into session so there can be a big, public fight about gun control used to score political points.
“Today, as Speaker of the House, I am writing in good faith to request that you call the United States Senate back into session immediately under your powers in Article II Section 3 of the Constitution to consider House-passed bipartisan gun violence prevention legislation,” Pelosi wrote. McConnell rejected the request but said the Senate would take up some of the “solutions” offered by the gun grabbers.
“The discussion is focusing on two things: One is these red flag warnings. … There’s also been some discussion about background checks,” McConnell said. “There’s a lot of support for that … so those are two items that for sure will be front and center as we see what we can come together on and pass.”
(Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)