Rifts Hinder Background Check Measure in Gun Bill
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER and JONATHAN WEISMAN
Divisions over a measure to extend background checks for gun buyers are
undermining support for what was seen as a compromise deal to ease
passage of a broader bill.
Supreme Court Declines Gun Law CaseBy JENNIFER STEINHAUER and JONATHAN WEISMAN
Published: April 14, 2013
WASHINGTON — Deep divisions within both parties over a bipartisan
measure to extend background checks for gun buyers are threatening its
chances as the Senate this week begins debating the first broad gun
control legislation in nearly 20 years.
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Senators Patrick J. Toomey, left, a Republican, and
Joe Manchin III, a Democrat, appeared on “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
Related
Times Topic: Guns and Gun Control
In spite of a vote last Thursday in favor of debating new gun measures,
some Democrats who are facing re-election next year in conservative
states have already said they will not vote for the background check
measure offered by Senators Patrick J. Toomey, Republican of
Pennsylvania, and Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, forcing
Democrats to look desperately across the aisle to fill the gaps.
Republicans, in the meantime, are bitterly torn between moderates who
feel pressure to respond to polls showing a majority of Americans in
support of some new gun regulations and conservatives who are deeply
opposed to them.
Further, an impending immigration bill may force Republicans to choose between softening their stance on either immigration or guns, but not both.
Sixty-eight senators, pressured by the families of those killed in gun violence, came together last week to overcome a filibuster
threat that would have quashed the debate on a broader gun bill. But
many of those votes are clearly not translating into yes votes for the
only background check measure that has attracted bipartisan support.
“We’ve got some work to do,” Mr. Manchin said in an interview Sunday.
“You’ve got some very close Democratic colleagues who are having some
difficulties, and our Republican colleagues are trying to get
comfortable.”
On Sunday, a small gun rights group, the Citizens Committee for the
Right to Keep and Bear Arms, came out in favor of the Toomey-Manchin
amendment, prompting Mr. Manchin to say he hoped the endorsement would
help win more yes votes. Also on Sunday, Senator John McCain, Republican
of Arizona, said he was inclined to support the measure; his vote,
should it be yes, could bring along others and push the bill toward the
60 votes needed for final passage. .
And supporters of gun safety legislation, including President Obama,
plan to campaign all week to win over some lawmakers who have expressed
misgivings. Public pressure to pass gun legislation is also
intensifying, with the families of the people killed in the Newtown,
Conn., school massacre last year waging a highly public, and potent,
campaign to win over lawmakers.
But an accounting of likely votes shows how difficult it could be to pass new gun legislation.
Senator Mark Begich, Democrat of Alaska, says he will vote against the
measure, and at least three other Democrats are expected to join him in
trying to defeat it, including Heidi Heitkamp, a freshman senator from
North Dakota. Some left-leaning Democrats may also balk because of the
gun-rights provisions that have been added to the bill to entice
Republicans.
Among the 16 Republicans who joined 50 Democrats and two independents in
voting last week to proceed to consideration of gun legislation,
roughly seven have already decided not to support the measure. Another
half-dozen Republicans who voted to proceed on the bill remain
ambivalent.
The Republican Senators Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Johnny Isakson of
Georgia, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Bob Corker of Tennessee,
all of whom voted to proceed on the bill, are no votes right now, and
several others are expected to also vote down the amendment on Tuesday,
the expected day of the vote.
It is also unclear whether Senator Frank R. Lautenberg, Democrat of New
Jersey, a likely yes vote who has been largely absent in the 113th
Congress, would show up for the crucial vote this week.
Mr. Manchin, who spent much of last week buttonholing colleagues at the
Senate gym and giving out handwritten pleas for support on the Senate
floor, said he felt certain that people who read the bill would find
their objections quelled. “The thing is, the easiest vote for me or any
senator to make is ‘no,’ ” he said.
The Republican conflict came to the fore last week during a closed-door
luncheon for Senate Republicans, when Senator Susan Collins, of Maine,
eyes blazing, stood up and complained about a series of attack ads that
she was facing back home from a gun-rights group with deep ties to
Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky.
Ms. Collins, who faces re-election next year, said the gun ads were an
example of the kind of internal Republican warfare that has hindered the
party in Senate races the last two elections. She supports the
amendments and other components of the new gun regulations legislation,
and she released a lengthy statement on Sunday explaining her thinking.
Her comments, according to several Republican aides, ignited a tense
debate, similar to many the party has faced since its loss in the race
for the White House last year. Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio,
stood to say he had been raising money for Ms. Collins’ re-election,
only to watch her have to spend it to defend herself against the attack
from the gun group, which has been directed at other members as well.
Ms. Collins warned her colleagues that if she loses a primary to a
strong opponent with gun-rights credentials, it could well cost the
party her seat.
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, a freshman ally of Mr. Paul’s, jumped in to
promise he had nothing to do with the group, according to officials
briefed on the event. Then Mr. Paul, feeling attacked, stormed out. (A
spokeswoman for Mr. Paul did not respond to repeated requests for
comment.)
The Republican leader, Senator Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, is facing
his own re-election race and appears to have ceded leadership on the gun
issue to more junior senators, Mr. Cruz, on the pro-gun group side of
the debate, and Senator Mark Steven Kirk of Illinois, who supports new
regulations.
Don Stewart, a spokesman for Mr. McConnell, said the senator had
encouraged the search for compromise. “Senator McConnell’s views on the
Second Amendment have been consistent throughout his career,” he said.
“He encourages his members to be involved and actually believes in
broader member involvement, not less.”
Should the background check amendment fail, a broader package of new gun
legislation would continue to the Senate floor, but wounded. It would
increase penalties for illegal gun sales, stop some trafficking and
improve mental health reporting.
This amendment was set to replace the background check provision of the
original legislation, which would also create harsher penalties for the
so-called straw purchasing of guns, in which people buy guns for others
who are not able to do so legally. Subsequent amendments, dealing with
mental health, a ban on assault weapons and other issues, are expected
in the days ahead before a vote on the overall measure.
Both Mr. Manchin and Mr. Toomey spent much of the weekend pleading with
their colleagues for support. Former Representative Gabrielle Giffords,
who was critically wounded in a mass shooting, will be in the Capitol
this week pressing members on their votes.
Mr. McCain, who is involved in potential new immigration legislation,
offered Mr. Manchin and Mr. Toomey their best hope on Sunday. “Eighty
percent of the American people want to see a better background checks
procedure,” he said on the CNN program “State of the Union.” “I am very
favorably disposed.”
Many Republicans who are considering supporting changes to the
immigration system may see little upside to supporting the gun
legislation as well.
“One of the reasons Republicans don’t have a governing majority is that
we often pick the wrong fights,” Mr. Alexander said in speech in
Lewisburg, Tenn., on Friday night. “Voting to prevent a debate on gun
rights is an argument Republicans will lose with the American people.
Defending Second Amendment rights is an argument Republicans will win
with the American people.”
Mr. Manchin said he would continue to try to persuade his colleagues.
“If you believe in something you have to work for it,” he said. “If you
don’t you have to question why we are here.”
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