Senators try to revive gun background checks bill

WASHINGTON — Senators backing gun control are discussing ways to revise the defeated Senate background check bill to help win the votes they need to resuscitate the measure.

Among the changes they might consider are limiting the fees buyers would pay at gun shows, adding provisions dealing with the mentally ill and altering language extending the background check requirement to all online sales, senators said Tuesday.

Supporters fell five votes short when the Senate defeated legislation last month that would have extended required federal background checks to more buyers.

That vote, four months after the massacre of 20 first-graders and six educators at a school in Newtown, Conn., was a defeat for President Barack Obama and gun control advocates. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has promised to revisit the issue, perhaps by early summer.

Gun control groups have stepped up advertising, attendance at lawmakers’ town hall meetings and other forms of pressure in an effort to convince at least five senators that they risk electoral defeat unless they reverse themselves and back the effort.

Once senators make that political calculation, many lawmakers and lobbyists believe the legislation would have to be changed so those senators could justify switching their earlier vote.

“Clearly this bill is going to have to look differently to allow members to face their constituents and explain why they changed their mind,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.

“This is a pretty common-sense bill. I don’t know how you make it any more common sense, except redefine some areas,” said Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who wrote the measure with Sen. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa.

The National Rifle Association said it was launching $25,000 in TV commercials in Manchester, N.H., on Wednesday defending the “no” vote by Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H. That ad says Ayotte protected “New Hampshire values” by supporting a GOP alternative that focused more on mental health and better enforcing current laws.

It is a response to TV commercials that criticizing her and which were financed by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which is funded largely by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Those ads started running this week in Manchester and Boston in a buy exceeding $500,000, the group said.

Several senators who voted no have said they would consider revised versions of the legislation. None have committed themselves to changing their vote, and several have said they won’t do so.

“I’m not changing my vote. I think we ought to move on,” Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., one of the lawmakers gun control advocates have discussed trying to sway, said this week.

The defeated legislation would extend the background check requirement to include all transactions at gun shows and online. Transactions between relatives and other unadvertised sales would be exempt.

Background checks are currently required only for transactions handled by licensed gun dealers. The system is aimed at preventing criminals, the mentally ill and others from getting weapons.

Manchin told reporters he was considering changing the bill’s language on Internet sales and how it treats family members, but was not specific. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., has said he opposed the measure because its definition of commercial sales was too broad and could affect transactions between relatives.

Murphy said senators would support “a more robust portion of the bill dedicated to mental health” but provided no detail. Ayotte has said she wants a stronger effort aimed at the mentally ill, plus other changes.

Murphy said other possible provisions might address buyers who live far from gun dealers, where the checks are performed, and capping the fees charged for transactions at gun shows. Currently, there are no limits on fees gun dealers charge for some transactions that include background checks, which can range from roughly $20 to $100.

Gun rights advocates were also taking the offensive. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., prepared two gun-related amendments to a water infrastructure bill, and the Senate planned to vote on them Wednesday.

One would require federal agencies to report annually how many firearms and how much ammunition they have, exempting the Defense Department and the CIA. The other would allow firearms on an Army Corps of Engineers water resources facility if it didn’t conflict with state law.

A pair of reports out Tuesday showed that gun violence has declined significantly over the past two decades.

A study by the government’s Bureau of Justice Statistics found that gun-related homicides dropped from a peak of 18,253 in 1993 to 11,101 in 2011, down by over one-third. A report by the private Pew Research Center said gun homicides per 100,000 people fell from 7 in 1993 to 3.6 in 2010, a drop of nearly half.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Southbound lanes on Highway 99 reopen after crash

The crash, on Highway 99 at 176th Street SW, blocked traffic for over an hour. Traffic was diverted to 168th Street SW.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.