All eyes are on the Senate following their August recess. Many Americans are wondering if more stringent gun control laws are going to pass the Republican-controlled chamber. According to Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the chamber won't move forward with any proposals until President Donald Trump makes it clear he would sign whatever legislation is passed.
“My members know the very simple fact that to make a law you have to have a presidential signature. They are working on coming up with a proposal that the president will sign. Until that happens, all of this is theatrics,” McConnell told reporters, referencing Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-NY) Monday press conference with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) calling for the Senate to take up the House's gun control legislation.
McConnell has made it very clear that he won't bring any legislation to the floor for a vote if Trump has vowed to veto the bill.
According to a senior official in the Trump administration, the president is considering universal background checks and implementing a federal red flag law.
It appears that the Toomey-Manchin bill, which was introduced following the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012, is back on the table, the Washington Examiner reported. The bill would require background checks on all firearm transactions, including private party transfers between family members and life-long friends. The goal is to close so-called "gun show loopholes."
According to Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), President Trump has had numerous conversations with him about the bill. Although the Senate refused to pass the bill in 2013 and 2015, Toomey believes there is now enough support to get the bill passed. And Trump's support could seal the deal.
”I know the president's support is essential but with that support I think we can get to the 60 votes we need," Toomey told the Examiner.
Although legislators believe expanded background checks could have prevented the tragedies in Midland Odessa, Texas, the National Shooting Sports Foundation's (NSSF) Director of Public Affairs, Mark Oliva, disagrees.
"These tragic incidents demonstrate that universal background checks wouldn’t have prevented the murders. The murderer in Odessa appears to have been a prohibited individual who attempted to buy a gun and was denied. It appears he then obtained a firearm illegally," Oliva told Townhall. "We have laws that would prevented it if they were enforced. It was a felony when this criminal attempted to buy a gun and was denied, yet nothing was done. We must have the will to enforce our existing laws before creating new ones that don’t address the root problems."
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