Democratic Majority Leader in the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, announced this thursday you will look for He forced a vote on gun control in June, following the shooting two days ago at a Texas school that killed 19 children and two teachers.
Schumer explained in the plenary that has not scheduled a vote this week on two legislative initiatives already approved by the Lower House, with a Democrat majority, to give time to negotiate an agreement with the Republicans.
Even so, he recognized that it is unlikely that both parties will reach a compromise.
“If these negotiations do not produce results, the Senate will vote on gun safety legislation when we get back” The US will be off for the Memorial Day recess next Monday, Schumer said.
indicated that, despite his “deep skepticism”, he is hopeful that this week Democrats and Republicans will reach a pact to “reduce armed violence in a real way in the US”.
Schumer clarified that is not willing to negotiate for an indefinite period of time and pointed out that if these efforts fail, he will schedule a vote on that kind of legislation.
From the White House, its spokesperson, Karine Jean-Pierre, stressed that the government of the country has already done “its part” with numerous pro-gun measures, and now it’s up to Congress to act.
“This president has passed more executive orders than any other” against gun violence and “now is the time for Congress,” said White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre.
The White House spokeswoman left He placed these negotiations in the hands of the Democratic leaders in Congress and stressed that that the president, Joe Biden, has already spoken numerous times with Congress about these necessary reforms, but he is willing to keep doing it.
The two pieces of legislation passed by the House in March would require buyer background checks on nearly all firearms transactions and end what is called the “Charleston Gap,” that allows proceeding with the sale of weapons if the background check has not been completed in 3 days, expanding this period to 10 days.
Currently it is practically impossible for any initiative Will such a thing get ahead in the Senate, since Democrats have such a slim majority that they would need to convince at least ten Republicans to pass them, and conservatives have consistently opposed any money-control measures. firearms.
However, the US Congress has not passed a law in more than two decades that significantly limits the possession of weapons, protected in the Sec 2nd Amendment to the Constitution.
In addition, the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA) has helped finance the political campaigns of hundreds of members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, according to the Open Secrets database managed by the Center for Responsible Politics.