As U.S. senators on both sides of the aisle continue to refine the details of a comprehensive package of gun reform laws, Pat Toomey, a Republican at the center of the negotiations, said Tuesday it’s “more likely than not we will get something done in the Senate” after years of inaction.
Mr. Toomey, in a call with reporters Tuesday afternoon, said he thinks the bipartisan framework — which, if passed, would expand the review process for weapons buyers under 21, flag domestic violence perpetrators in the background check system and support states that want to implement red-flag laws — would make communities safer and protect the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.
There is broad support among Democrats and buy-in from 10 Republicans already, Mr. Toomey said on the call. Many of his GOP colleagues are taking the “wait-and-see” approach as legislative details are hammered out, he added. It will need unified support from Democrats and at least 10 Republicans to clear the Senate’s 60-vote filibuster hurdle.
If passed, the deal would mark the first significant federal movement on gun laws since the mid-1990s. It comes in the aftermath of a streak of mass shootings and as American towns find themselves rattled by near-nightly gun violence.
Senators have been negotiating the deal since late May when an 18-year-old fatally shot 19 schoolchildren and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. It also comes nearly a month after 10 Black shoppers were shot and killed at a supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y. A grand jury has indicted an 18-year-old alleged gunman, and the case is being investigated as a racially motivated hate crime.
Mr. Toomey touted the legislation’s provisions that would more thoroughly scrutinize the backgrounds of gun buyers under age 21. Asked why the deal doesn’t raise the minimum purchasing age to 21 as a whole, Mr. Toomey said the vast majority of young adults are law abiding Americans who aren’t a threat to anyone.
The hope is that greater scrutiny into young buyers would reveal prior criminal histories or mental health issues that would preclude those people from buying, Mr. Toomey said.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard a proposal that is going to bring an end to mass killings. That’s a sad reality that there is no panacea here,” Mr. Toomey said. “I just think on the margins, it makes sense to do a more thorough investigation of these young adults and this legislation is intended to do that.”
The bipartisan framework sends resources for states to establish or enforce existing laws that would temporarily seize firearms — at the order of a judge — from those who pose a risk to themselves or others. Mr. Toomey said it would incentivize states to enact these so-called red-flag laws. He emphasized, too, the importance of the court’s role in these proceedings so they’re done “appropriately.”
The framework doesn’t include a ban on assault weapons, a proposal that many Democrats have championed.
Mr. Toomey said there are 20 million firearms — currently owned by millions of Americans — that meet various definitions of assault weapons. There aren’t even 50 votes in the Senate for such ban, he said.
“There isn’t even unanimity among Democrats to ban this category of very, very widely owned and widely used firearms,” Mr. Toomey said.
Julian Routh: jrouth@post-gazette.com
First Published: June 14, 2022, 5:49 p.m.
