{"id":581452,"date":"2023-07-05T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-05T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/democrats-effort-to-force-gun-votes-fizzles-in-house\/"},"modified":"2023-07-05T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-07-05T10:00:00","slug":"democrats-effort-to-force-gun-votes-fizzles-in-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/democrats-effort-to-force-gun-votes-fizzles-in-house\/","title":{"rendered":"#Democrats\u2019 effort to force gun votes fizzles in House"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/dome_capitol_062723gn08_w.jpg?w=900\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A Democratic strategy to move tougher gun laws through the House has hit a brick wall of GOP opposition, all but guaranteeing the hot-button issue will be relegated to the realm of campaign messaging in the Republican-led lower chamber.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Democratic leaders\u00a0had launched procedural maneuvers\u00a0last month designed to force votes on several gun reform measures\u00a0over the objections of GOP leaders. The gambit, known as a discharge petition, is rarely successful.\u00a0But supporters had hoped the effort would bear fruit this year given the growing public outcry over endemic mass shootings and the widespread popularity of proposals like expanded background checks,\u00a0one of\u00a0which is sponsored by a Republican.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>But even that GOP lawmaker, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), has refused to endorse the petition, citing the likelihood that the background check bill would fail in the Senate. The unanimous Republican opposition has highlighted the limited powers of the House minority, the reluctance of GOP moderates to confront their leadership publicly, and the polarizing nature of the debate over guns, which remains highly partisan despite shifting attitudes outside of Congress.<\/p>\n<p>It has also frustrated reform advocates on and off Capitol Hill who are furious that Republicans have refused to address gun violence even as it\u2019s evolved to become the leading cause of death for children in the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u200b\u200b\u201cIt\u2019s an extraordinary time, and we need extraordinary people stepping up,\u201d Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) said. \u201cYou know there\u2019s another mass shooting coming. So will that be the mass shooting that finally allows these guys to do what\u2019s right?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Democrats\u2019 discharge petitions attempt\u00a0to compel votes on three separate gun reform bills:\u00a0an assault weapons ban; expanded background checks before gun sales; and the adoption of a longer window for authorities to conduct those screenings.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But Fitzpatrick, lead sponsor of the bill to expand background checks to unlicensed parties who transfer firearms, dismissed the discharge petition as a political messaging move and said he would not sign the\u00a0petition for his own bill.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve passed that bill multiple times. The background check bill, red flag laws \u2014 I voted for the assault weapons ban. But at some point, we need to start thinking about getting things done rather than sending messages across the floor of the House,\u201d Fitzpatrick said. \u201cI really object to that, because it\u2019s a very intellectually dishonest way of proceeding when you don\u2019t have any strategy to navigate 60 votes in the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Fitzpatrick said he is working on trying to come up with compromise legislation that can get support from Republicans and pass in the Senate, but he said it is a \u201csensitive issue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery single time we pass this bill, everyone\u2019s like, \u2018Our work\u2019s done.\u2019 It\u2019s not done. If you actually care about getting it done, go over there and figure out how to get 60 votes. If you\u2019re not doing that, what are you doing? That\u2019s what\u2019s very frustrating about a lot of these <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a>s being played,\u201d Fitzpatrick said.<\/p>\n<p>Other moderate Republicans expressed skepticism as well.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr3_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) \u2014\u00a0who called Fitzpatrick one of his \u201cbest friends\u201d \u2014\u00a0said he would \u201cprobably not\u201d sign on to the Democratic-led effort but suggested he would look into the matter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would be willing to read what Fitz has,\u201d he later added, \u201cso I won\u2019t say out of hand I wouldn\u2019t do it \u2018cause I just don\u2019t know the details of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He pointed out the nuanced nature of background check legislation.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cExpanding background checks has a lot of different possibilities,\u201d Bacon said. \u201cI\u2019m for upgrading our background checks \u2018cause the FBI has databases. But if you\u2019re gonna make me do a background check on my son, which was in the Democrats\u2019 bill last cycle, that\u2019s going too far. So it just depends what the details are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The House passed Fitzpatrick\u2019s background checks bill on a bipartisan basis in the past two Congresses, when the chamber was controlled by Democrats. The Pennsylvania Republican\u00a0was one of eight Republicans\u00a0to vote for the bill each time, but it went nowhere in the Senate in the face of GOP opposition.<\/p>\n<p>To force a bill to the floor, Democrats need a simple majority of the lower chamber \u2014 218 lawmakers \u2014\u00a0to endorse one of their discharge petitions. All but four of the chamber\u2019s 212 Democrats have signed on to the petition for the Fitzpatrick bill so far: Reps. Jared Golden (Maine), Henry Cuellar (Texas), Mary Sattler Peltola (Alaska) and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.).<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr5_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Republicans view the issue through a dramatically different lens. And a vast majority of GOP lawmakers in both chambers oppose any legislation that restricts gun sales or ownership, saying those measures trample sacrosanct rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment. While Democrats are calling for tougher gun laws, House Republicans have sought to loosen them.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, the discharge petition effort arrived\u00a0in June,\u00a0just as House Republicans were\u00a0passing legislation\u00a0to repeal a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) rule that would require those who own firearms with a stabilizing brace, or pistol brace, to register the weapons with the agency.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>GOP supporters of the bill say pistol braces are a crucial tool for allowing disabled people, including military veterans, to use firearms \u2014 an argument rejected by supporters of the ATF rule.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr6_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cIt makes an assault pistol into an assault short-barreled rifle, and there\u2019s a law \u2014 a federal law \u2014 against short-barreled rifles for a reason,\u201d said Thompson, a Vietnam War veteran and gun owner. \u201cThe idea that this is somehow something that veterans are going to benefit from, it\u2019s just bullshit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Senate later\u00a0rejected\u00a0the House legislation along party lines.<\/p>\n<p>Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who has broken with her party on several thorny issues like abortion and guns, rejected the argument that expanding background checks tramples\u00a0constitutional rights.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr7_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not touching the Second Amendment by strengthening background checks,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Still, Mace had\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/clerk.house.gov\/Votes\/202175\">voted against<\/a> the expanded background check legislation in the last Congress and has not endorsed Fitzpatrick\u2019s bill this year. She\u2019s focusing on another proposal, to establish a public broadcast system warning people when a mass shooting occurs in their vicinity, similar to the Justice Department\u2019s Amber Alert system for abducted children. And she won a promise from Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to vote on the bill this year \u2014 a concession that secured her vote on the Republicans\u2019 partisan debt ceiling package in April.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re just finalizing the text of the bill to make sure no one on the committee has heartburn over it,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t want it to be a messaging bill, so I\u2019m trying to make sure I dot all my\u00a0i\u2019s and cross all my\u00a0t\u2019s, so it can get through the Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Though the chances of success are slim, discharge petitions have become one of Democrats\u2019 favorite tools to combat the House GOP majority.<\/p>\n<p>As McCarthy pushed President Biden to agree to spending cuts and policy reforms as a condition of raising the debt ceiling, Democrats launched a discharge petition effort on an alternate bill to raise the debt limit without cuts. Though every Democrat in the House signed on to the bill, moderate Republicans\u00a0whom\u00a0they hoped to target flatly rejected it, and the House eventually passed a debt limit deal that McCarthy negotiated with Biden.<\/p>\n<p>And to mark the anniversary of the Dobbs Supreme Court decision that eliminated a federal right to obtain an abortion, Democrats introduced a discharge petition for the Women\u2019s Health Protection Act, which would ban states from restricting abortion before the point of fetal viability.<\/p>\n<p>Bacon said Democratic attempts at using the historically unsuccessful procedural gambit is an example of the minority party\u00a0taking advantage of\u00a0the few tools available to it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou use every strategy that\u2019s possible to you, and it\u2019s one of theirs, trying to get something on the floor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Copyright 2023 Nexstar <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Media<\/a> Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/house\/4079689-house-democrats-effort-force-gun-votes-fizzles\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Democratic strategy to move tougher gun laws through the House has hit a brick wall of GOP opposition, all but guaranteeing the hot-button issue will be relegated to the realm of campaign messaging in the Republican-led lower chamber.\u00a0\u00a0 Democratic leaders\u00a0had launched procedural maneuvers\u00a0last month designed to force votes on several gun reform measures\u00a0over the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":581453,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/dome_capitol_062723gn08_w.jpg?w=1280","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[134344,137605,134343,10701,92246,140118,90482,137041,124783,70289,134345],"class_list":["post-581452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-administration","tag-brian-fitzpatrick","tag-campaign","tag-democrats","tag-gun-control","tag-gun-reform","tag-house","tag-house-democrats","tag-international","tag-senate","tag-state-watch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=581452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/581453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}