GunsLawmakers renew effort to reach bipartisan gun control compromise

Lawmakers have quietly begun discussions over gun control measures, with  a bi-partisan group of senators  trying to come up with a compromise to solve the differences that led to the failure two weeks ago of  a comprehensive overhaul effort.

The New York Times reports that gun control advocates  believe this second effort may well be  successful and. The advocates have embarked on a two-phase  strategy. The first phase involves identifying senators who could change their vote and support a background check system with only a few loopholes.

The second phase will be developing a national campaign which would better organize public support for universal background checks in order to pressure lawmakers.

 “We’re going to work it hard,” Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) told reporters Thursday. Manchin, who, with Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pennsylvania), cosponsored the bill which failed two weeks ago, also said that he was considering changing the language of the bill to satisfy senators who may believe that background checks in person-to-person gun sales may inconvenience those who live too far  from a sporting goods store or a gun shop. The original Manchin-Toomey bill required individuals selling guns to other individuals to use the computers in a licensed gun shop to check whether the individual buying the firearm was prohibited from purchase of a firearm.

That provision was a concern for Alaska senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Mark Begich (D-Alaska).

A separate gun bill, an anti-gun trafficking bill, is now being discussed by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York), Kelly Ayotte (R-New Hampshire), and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa). The group is also trying to identify ways to gain support for the bill, which would criminalize the purchase of  guns on behalf of  someone who is not allowed to possess a firearm.

Some Democrats believe this would be a good starting point in developing a broader compromise between the two parties.

 “I think trafficking can be the base of the bill, the rock on which everything else stands,” Gillibrand told reporters. “I also think it’s complementary to background checks because, let’s be honest, criminals aren’t going to buy a gun and go through a background check. So if you really want to go after criminals, you have to have to do both.”

Ayotte told reporters on Thursday that she and Gillibrand will continue to discuss the issue,  and that the group is confident that they can agree on some areas of gun control.

“There’s a lot we have agreement on in terms of enforcing our current system,” Ayotte told reporters. “And so I certainly think we should look for the common elements, including the mental health piece, which I support as well, and try to move as much of that as possible forward.”

While Congress is in recess next week, gun control advocates will team up with the Organizing for Action for demonstrations at the offices senators who voted against the bill.

Other efforts are being started as well. Vice President Joe Biden last week summoned a group of gun control proponents to his office. He told representatives of the  Americans for Responsible Solutions, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, and the Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence  that gun control is  a highest priority for the administration.