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WASHINGTON – Republicans are embracing social justice language as they dig into universal background checks and other policies designed to limit access to guns.
As the country carries out two deadly mass shootings in consecutive weeks and counts with increasing rates of violence against Asian Americans, Republicans oppose gun control measures on the basis of the protection of black, Latin American and Asian communities.
GOP senators on Tuesday presented gun control amid a long racist history of restricting the rights of minority groups at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on gun violence. Although they still make traditional arguments that gun laws violate Second Amendment rights and punish law-abiding gun owners, much of their questions to witnesses were about communities. minority who needed weapons to protect themselves.
“Very often, inevitably in American history, but even before American history, we have seen that it is rarely the empowered, very rarely the wealthy or those with political ties to the government, who have their rights interfered with. Said Republican Senator Mike. Lee.
Chris Cheng, a guest witness by Senate Republicans and a sports shooter who won the History Channel season four championship Top Shot, linked gun control to a historical model of minority rights violations that included the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. “We have to defend ourselves,” he said.
Congress is currently not considering any legislation to withdraw firearms or prohibit any group of people from owning them, although President Joe Biden on Tuesday called for a renewal of the assault weapons ban enacted in 1994 and which expired a decade later.
Legislation underway in Congress includes two bills recently passed by the House on universal background checks. A bill would expand background checks to cover private sales, online sales and gun show sales. The other would give authorities up to 20 days to do a background check when someone wants to buy a gun. Currently, gun sellers can complete the purchase after three days if a background check is not complete. Polls show that expanded background checks are extremely popular among Democratic and Republican voters.
As Republican gun rhetoric evolves, the underlying politics remain the same. The party overwhelmingly opposes any gun control measures, including background check laws like those passed by the House.
“Thoughts and prayers are not enough on their own. We need action, ”Senator Ted Cruz said in Tuesday’s hearing, echoing the words Democrats usually say when they call on politicians to go beyond condolences to shoot victims. .
In fact, Cruz was arguing against measures such as universal background checks and the assault rifle ban, calling it “a ridiculous theater where this committee meets and comes up with a bunch of laws that would do nothing to stop this violence.” “. He was talking about measures for his own legislation, a much more limited plan focused on increasing funding for law enforcement.
Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal accused Cruz of including “poison pills” in his legislation – usually a term for a very controversial provision that flows into a larger bill, but in this case referring to implementing provisions so weak that Democrats see them as less than better than nothing. Blumenthal accused Cruz of “using deceptive measures and the fig leaf as a ruse to prevent common sense and effective measures to prevent gun violence”.
If there was ever the slightest hope that the recent gun violence would bring politicians closer together, it was quickly shattered on Tuesday. Democrats have stepped up their calls for new laws, while Republicans have derided Democratic proposals as flawed or unconstitutional.
“I’m not trying to make the perfect comparison between these two, but we have a lot of drunk drivers in America who kill a lot of people,” said Republican Senator John Kennedy. “We have to fight this too. But I think what a lot of people on my side are saying is that we don’t have to get rid of all sober drivers.
Kennedy’s comments quickly spread to Twitter, where many people Noted that the government regulates who can drive a car.
Just days ago, infrastructure, rather than gun control, was Congress’ top priority. But deadly shootings in Atlanta, Georgia, and Boulder, Colorado, have moved gun control to the fore. Biden called on Congress to immediately pass a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, as well as the two House background check bills.
But Democrats need at least 10 Republicans to break the Senate veto and pass gun control measures. No Senate Republican has yet spoken in favor of the House bills. There is not even unanimous support among Senate Democrats – West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin has said he does not support House bills.
The question now is whether Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is moving forward on universal background checks and proposing legislation that is likely to fail, or working with Republicans to craft a more compromise. watered down that might have a chance of being adopted.
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