
A bipartisan group of more than 200 mayors on Thursday called on the Senate to return from its August recess, demanding Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reconvene the chamber to take up legislation to strengthen background checks for gun buyers.
The coalition of mayors from three dozen states cited last weekend’s shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio, that left 31 dead and dozens more injured, urging senators to take up a pair of House-passed bills aimed at closing loopholes in the federal background check system.
Democrats have pushed even harder for these measures in the days since the slayings.“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 mayors wrote in a letter to McConnell (R-Ky.) and his Democratic counterpart Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
The letter points out that so far in 2019, there have been more than 250 mass shootings, including three in the one week span that ended last Sunday.
The House passed two bills in late February that the mayoral coalition endorsed — one would require background checks for all firearm sales, and the other would close the so-called Charleston loophole by extending the background check review period for the purchase of firearms. Both bills passed with bipartisan support, but have hit a wall in the Senate, where McConnell has refused to bring either up for a vote.
President Donald Trump in the wake of the shootings expressed support for shoring up background checks, telling reporters Wednesday there was a “great appetite” politically for taking such steps despite backing off the issue in the past.
He added this week that “I think both Republican[s] and Democrat[s] are getting close to a bill on — to doing something with background checks,” but he has not backed either bill mentioned by mayors in their letter.Both bills, the mayors argued, are "bipartisan, sensible gun safety bills that would make our cities and our people safer, and would in no way compromise gun owners’ rights," though the NRA has opposed them.
Such measures have been broadly popular for some time, and a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll out Wednesday found that voters nearly unanimously support laws requiring universal background checks, including 90 percent of Republicans.
"We urge you to call the Senate back to session now to take up and pass these bills to help reduce gun violence and the terrible toll it takes in our cities and our nation," the mayors said, demanding the bills' "quick passage."
"America has proven time and again that we can rise to our most difficult challenges. We look forward to working with you to find a way forward to protect our citizens from this senseless carnage," they said.
Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine