PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — In the aftermath of the mass shootings in Boulder and Atlanta, Democrats in the U.S. Senate, with support from President Joe Biden, are looking to act on gun control. Republican lawmakers, however, vow to once again block any changes that they believe would infringe on Second Amendment rights.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Tuesday that he would bring two bills, which passed the House, to the Senate floor.
The legislation would expand background checks and close certain loopholes. One, referred to as the "Charleston Loophole," allows some gun sales to go through as background check results are pending. It is a reference to the 2015 shooting at a historically Black church in South Carolina that left nine people dead.
Biden, in remarks on Tuesday about the mass killing of 10 people in Boulder, Colorado, urged the Senate to move quickly.
"This is not, and should not be, a partisan issue. This is an American issue. It will save lives. American lives. And we have to act," Biden said.
Also on Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing about gun violence, planned after the fatal shooting spree in Atlanta but before Monday’s mass shooting. Democratic lawmakers, as they have in the past, are pushing for change.
"We are way out of step with every other nation on the planet Earth in the number of Americans being killed, and somehow we don’t think we have the power to stop this," said N.J. Sen. Cory Booker.
While Democrats emphasized their belief that legislation can lead to a safer country, Republicans argued that legal gun owners would be unfairly targeted.
"There are steps we can take to stop these crimes. And you know what the steps aren’t? The steps aren’t disarming law abiding citizens," said Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.
It is an uphill battle for Democrats, who need 60 votes in the Senate. They’ll need Republican support, but as of now, they don’t even have the backing of centrist Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
Manchin and Pennsylvania’s Pat Toomey, who put together bipartisan gun legislation following the school massacre in Sandy Hook in 2012, are aligned and do not support the measures that passed the House. The bills did get some GOP support in the lower chamber. One of the pieces of legislation had three Republican cosponsors including Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick of Bucks County.