Dems eye quick action

House Dems eye quick action on guns in new Congress

Advocates of curbing gun violence believe the political landscape has shifted decisively in their favor.

By JOHN BRESNAHAN, HEATHER CAYGLE and LAURA BARRÓN-LÓPEZ

House Democrats are planning to move several high-profile bills to combat gun violence soon after they take power in January, underscoring their belief that the political landscape has shifted dramatically on an issue that's plagued American society for decades.

With backing from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and key chairmen, Democrats will move to require federal background checks on all gun sales, part of a broader effort by the party to advance long-stalled gun control measures.

While the proposal won't get through the Republican-run Senate, much less become law, getting through the House will be a win for the gun-control movement, which has little to cheer about since President Donald Trump was sworn into office.

Rep. Mike Thompson (Calif.) — head of a Democratic “gun violence prevention task force” that will have more than 140 members next year — says he’ll introduce the universal background checks bill early next year.

“It will be strong legislation to expand background checks, and I will have a very respectful show of [co-sponors],” Thompson said in an interview. “I think you will see it happen in the first 100 days.”

“The new Democratic majority will act boldly and decisively to pass commonsense, life-saving background checks that are overwhelmingly supported by the American people,” Pelosi said in a statement.

Thompson, a close Pelosi ally, said the bill would have bipartisan sponsorship, although he declined to name the Republican lawmakers who'll sign onto it. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), who has co-authored background checks bills with Thompson in the past, has already told reporters that he will back this latest effort as well.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), the incoming chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction over the issue, said he plans to move “very quickly” to get the background checks bill to the floor.

“It’s very important to us, it’s one of our top priorities. We told the American voters that we do mean to do this, and we do mean to do it,” Nadler told POLITICO, adding it would move through his panel in late February or early March. A floor vote in the House will come soon after.

Thompson's legislation will require federal background checks on all gun sales, including private transactions. There likely will be some small exemptions, such as transfers between family members, or temporary use of a gun for hunting. Gun-control groups estimate that roughly one-fifth or more of gun sales don't include background checks.

Thompson, King and more than 200 other lawmakers — including 14 Republicans — introduced similar legislation in November 2017, but it went nowhere.

"The American people want this. They're way ahead of the Congress, they're way ahead of the White House," Thompson insisted.

Thompson's proposal, like many that House Democrats will pass in the new majority, may end up more as a messaging bill meant to show the American public that they listened to those who marched for action after the February 2018 shooting in Parkland, Florida, as well as proving they won't shy away from talking about gun control ahead of ahead of the ultimate 2020 battle with Trump.

Any legislation will be loudly opposed by the National Rifle Association and other gun-rights groups, who suggest it's the opening move by gun-control advocates in a campaign to create a national gun registry.

Such a registry, they argue, could eventually lead to the federal government taking away citizens‘ guns. It’s the thread that runs through virtually every argument made by gun-rights groups — the government first wants to know whether you have a gun so it can take it away from you someday — and continues to mobilize their activists in the never-ending struggle over gun laws.

"Universal background checks has always been a red herring," said Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), a key NRA ally in the House. "It's something that sounds very commonsense and probably polls very well, but there's not a single commercial gun transaction in America that doesn't have a background check."

"People who are putting this forward, I think they have good intentions. They don't want the wrong people to have guns," Hudson added. "But the wrong people are not going to report gun sales. So you will need a registry to know where every gun is."

While the NRA will staunchly oppose the Thompson bill — as it has opposed calls for expanding background checks in the past — this debate comes at a critical time for the organization, and the broader gun-rights movement.

The NRA has suffered a steep decline in fundraising during the last few years, according to its own reports. While the organization still spent millions of dollars during the 2018 midterms — and its endorsement is eagerly sought by GOP candidates and incumbents — its spending has dropped steeply from previous cycles.

In addition, the NRA has found itself embroiled in a Russian spy scandal. Maria Butina, a Russian gun-rights advocate, pleaded guilty in federal court last week to conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of the Russian government. Butina tried to infiltrate the NRA and conservative political circles in 2016.

Sources close to the NRA downplay the impact of the Butina case, and they say that any attempt to restrict gun rights will damage Democrats in the long run.

"[Democrats] will overreach like they always do," said a source close to the NRA. "They will push this too far, and it will backfire on them."

Yet gun-control groups such as Giffords and Everytown for Gun Safety argue that the political environment has moved decisively in their favor. They point to the fact that Democratic candidates who embraced gun-control measures did well in November, especially with suburban voters horrified by repeated mass shootings targeting children or schools.

"For the first time in years, the House of Representatives is going to be able to debate,” and pass strong gun-safety laws, which is something they haven't been able to do during this modern gun-safety movement," which began with the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, said Robin Lloyd, director of government affairs at Giffords. Giffords was founded by former Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords (Ariz.), who was severely injured in a January 2011 shooting that left six people dead and 13 wounded.

"The public has been demanding commonsense gun laws for years," added John Feinblatt, Everytown's president. "The public is ready for the Congress to act. The new leadership that's coming to the House in 2019 is listening to voters, and that's what they should be doing."

Everytown was started by Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire businessman and former New York City mayor. Bloomberg dumped tens of millions of dollars into the midterms to help Democrats, and he's now considering a run for the White House in 2020.

Democratic presidential hopefuls will also have to be much more aggressive in talking about gun control, even if proponents can't get such measures through Congress, say lawmakers and party activists.

“Any Democrat running for president or dog catcher has to be talking about gun policy,“ said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who has led the drive for more restrictions of guns since Sandy Hook.

“Republicans can’t win the House back if their position on guns doesn’t change,” he added. “This is now a top two or three issue for swing voters in suburban districts and until Republicans break from the NRA, they’re not going to win back the seats that they lost in 2018.“