The Hill
October 6, 2017
As rare, bipartisan momentum builds on Capitol Hill for a change to gun laws, the wild card in the debate might be the man in the White House.
President Trump has a long and checkered history on gun reform that stretches back decades and runs a spectrum of conflicting positions, from promotion of an assault-weapons ban to a more recent embrace of the Second Amendment protectionism advocated by the National Rifle Association (NRA).
Following Sunday’s shooting massacre in Las Vegas, the deadliest in the country’s history, the president vowed to revisit federal gun laws “as time goes by.” That promise will be tested by Democrats, who are pushing hard this week for a range of legislative steps to reduce gun violence.
It may also prove a headache for GOP leaders, who for decades have aligned themselves with Second Amendment advocates in blanket opposition to new restrictions on buying, owning or operating firearms — a stance they’ve largely maintained following the horror in Las Vegas.
“It’s premature to be discussing legislative solutions, if there are any,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday.
This article was posted: Friday, October 6, 2017 at 7:52 am
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