Republicans resist calls for urgent action on gun control
August 9, 2019
Democrats and over 200 city mayors have urged Mitch McConnell to bring senators back to Washington to vote on gun control. NRA chief Wayne LaPierre reportedly warned President Trump against background check legislation.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/J. Minchillo
Advertisement
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected calls on Thursday for reconvening the Senate, which is currently in its August recess, to vote on measures to address gun violence, in the wake of the shootings in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas.
Democrats, gun-control activists, and 214 city mayors had publicly urged McConnell to bring senators back to DC to vote on the issue.
"The tragic events in El Paso and Dayton this weekend are just the latest reminders that our nation can no longer wait for our federal government to take the actions necessary to prevent people who should not have access to firearms from being able to purchase them," the United States Conference of Mayors wrote in a letter to the Republican Senate leader.
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi went as far as to ask President Donald Trump to use his constitutional powers to call the Senate back into session immediately.
In February, the Democratic-led House of Representatives passed two bills calling for universal background checks for gun buyers, neither of which have been brought up for a vote in the Republican-led Senate.
But McConnell said calling senators back to Washington would just lead to people "scoring points and nothing would happen."
Instead, the GOP leader said he wanted to spend the August recess talking with Democratic and Republican senators about possible solutions that can be turned into a law.
During an interview to a radio station in his home state of Kentucky, McConnell said that President Trump was "anxious to get an outcome and so am I."
"We're going to have these bipartisan discussions and when we get back (from the recess), hopefully, be able to come together and actually pass something," McConnell said
But when asked about specific measures supported by Democrats, such as restrictions on assault weapons, McConnell said that while they would be addressed, measures Trump has proposed, such as background checks and so-called red flags "would probably lead the discussions."
Deadly mass shootings in the US
Mass shootings have become common tragedies in the US, where guns kill roughly 30,000 per year. From movie theaters to schools, mass shootings can occur at any place where large numbers of people are gathered.
Image: Getty Images/S. Platt
Ned Peppers Bar, Dayton
In the early hours of August 4, 2019, a man carrying a rifle opened fire at people outside a bar in Ohio, leaving nine people dead before police killed him. The man was wearing body armor and had additional magazines for the .223-caliber rifle. Police responded to the shooting within one minute; had they not, Mayor Nan Whaley said, "hundreds of people in the Oregon District could be dead today."
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/J. Minchillo
Walmart, El Paso
Several hours earlier, Patrick Wood Crusius was arrested on suspicion of killing 20 people and injuring 26. The suspect allegedly posted an online screed shortly before the shooting that echoed US President Donald Trump's anti-immigrant statements. He appeared to target people he believed to be immigrants from Mexico. Prosecutors said they'd treat the shooting as domestic terrorism.
Image: Reuters/C. Sanchez
Municipal Center, Virginia Beach
Mourners gathered for a vigil in response to a shooting at a municipal building in Virginia Beach on June 1, 2019. A longtime city employee opened fire, apparently indiscriminately, outside and inside the building before engaging in a battle with police, who ultimately shot and killed him, authorities said. Including the gunman, the death toll was 13.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/P. Semansky
Borderline Bar & Grill, Thousand Oaks
In November 2018, a 28-year-old former Marine attacked a country dance bar outside Los Angeles, killing 12 people and wounding 10 others. The bar was holding a "College Night" and was packed with a young crowd. The gunman was found dead inside the bar, apparently he killed himself.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Terrill
Tree of Life Synagogue, Pittsburgh
Eleven worshipers were killed at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in October 2018 while attending a baby naming ceremony. Six others were injured, including four police officers. The gunman is currently facing 29 criminal counts and could receive the death penalty. Police said he told officers that Jews were committing genocide and that
he wanted them all to die.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Wittpenn
Parkland, Florida
A 19-year-old former student of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida killed 17 of his fellow classmates in February 2018. For the first time in the US, survivors of a mass shooting came together to demand immediate action on gun control. The students founded March for our Lives, a nationwide student mass protest movement.
Image: picture-alliance/E.Rua
First Baptist Church, Sutherland Springs
A grudge against his in-laws led a 26-year-old man to attack a church in the small, tight-knit community of Sutherland Springs, Texas in November 2017. The shooter killed 26 people between the ages of 18 months and 72 years. The mass shooting prompted President Donald Trump to focus the issue of gun violence on mental health and away from gun ownership.
In the deadliest mass shooting in US history, concertgoers were targeted at a country music festival in Las Vegas in October 2017. The shooter, a 64-year-old man with no criminal record, attacked from a room in the nearby Mandalay Hotel, killing 59 people and wounding more than 400. Authorities found 23 guns in the shooter's room.
Image: picture-alliance/M. J. Sanchez
Pulse nightclub, Orlando
An Afghan-American with a deep hatred for homosexuals attacked a gay nightclub in the city of Orlando, Florida in June 2016. Using an AR-15 rifle, the gunman stormed the darkened hall and killed 50 partygoers. The shooting was condemned worldwide and brought attention to hate crimes against the gay community.
Image: Reuters/J. Young
Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown
The December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut rocked the nation in its brutality. It was the first time children under the age of 8 had been directly targeted, with 20 of them dying. Mourning parents flew to Washington, DC to support President Barack Obama's background checks legislation. The law ultimately wasn't approved, despite an emotional national debate.
Image: AP
Century 16 Theater, Aurora
In July 2012, a gunman opened fire during a movie screening in Aurora, Colorado, causing chaos and confusion. In the aftermath, 14 people were killed and 50 were wounded. The assailant attacked moviegoers as they were watching the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg
A student went on a shooting spree in a dorm and a class hall at Virginia Tech University campus in April 2007, leaving 32 people dead. The shooting turned the nation's attention to the National Rifle Association (NRA), the most powerful lobby group, which has fought to stop gun control laws.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/T. Maury
Columbine High School, Littleton
The 1999 assault in Littleton, Colorado, was the first school shooting to shock the nation. Two disgruntled students walked into their high school and opened fire with automatic weapons, killing 13 people. The attack would later become the subject of a documentary by filmmaker Michael Moore, Bowling for Columbine, that examined the causes of gun violence in the US.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Jefferson County Sheriff's Department
13 images1 | 13
NRA blasts gun restrictions
The National Rifle Association (NRA), which is an important donor for many Republican senators, reaffirmed on Thursday its commitment to oppose any further gun restrictions.
US newspaper The Washington Post reported that NRA chief Wayne LaPierre called Donald Trump this week to tell him a background check bill would not be popular with his supporters.
"I'm not inclined to discuss private conversations with President Trump or other key leaders on this issue,” LaPierre said in a statement.
"But I can confirm that the NRA opposes any legislation that unfairly infringes upon the rights of law-abiding citizens,” he stated.
"The inconvenient truth is this: The proposals being discussed by many would not have prevented the horrific tragedies in El Paso and Dayton," LaPierre argued.
