More than 200 mayors, including those in cities rocked by recent mass shootings, called on the Senate to return to Washington immediately to pass gun-control measures — but Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he has no plans to recall senators from their summer break.
“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 city leaders said in a letter to McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
Among the 229 mayors who have signed on as of Thursday night were El Paso Mayor Dee Margo and Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, along with those in Orlando, Parkland, Fla., Pittsburgh and Annapolis, Md.
They’re calling for the GOP-controlled Senate, which is on recess and not scheduled to return to session until September, to take up two bills passed in February by the House to expand background checks for gun purchases.
“The gun that the shooter used in Dayton — it was completely legal,” Whaley told reporters. “He broke no laws to get it here. And so here we sit — nine dead and 27 injured in Dayton. All we’re asking is for Congress to do their job to help our communities be more safe.”
The mayors were still reeling from the horror of this past weekend’s bloodshed in Texas and Ohio that left 31 people dead.
“Yesterday was the first funeral in Juarez [Mexico]. I was unable to attend that. I have three this afternoon,” said Margo, who was with President Trump on Wednesday.
National Rifle Association chief executive Wayne LaPierre spoke with Trump on Tuesday after the president expressed support for the background-check measure — and told him it would be unpopular with his voter base, sources told The Washington Post.
A day later, Trump said there isn’t an “appetite” for banning assault weapons but “there is a great appetite, and I mean a very strong appetite, for background checks. And I think we can bring up background checks like we’ve never had before.”
Then on Thursday, LaPierre, saying he was “not inclined to discuss private conversations with President Trump or other key leaders on this issue,” noted, “But I can confirm that the NRA opposes any legislation that unfairly infringes upon the rights of law-abiding citizens.”
McConnell, at home recovering from a shoulder fracture, said Thursday he won’t be bringing back the Senate. He told Louisville’s ABC affiliate he wants to pass a real law and not promote political sparring, saying he’d use the August recess to work on background check and red flag law legislation that could get 60 votes.
“There’s a lot of support for that,” McConnell said.
Bringing the Senate back now would be premature, he said.
“We’d just have people scoring political points and nothing would happen,” McConnell said.
Still, the mayors say the latest mass shootings are a tipping point.
“Mayors are on the front lines of these horrific attacks,” said Bryan Barnett, president of the US Conference of Mayors. “And that’s why we as a group are speaking out and demanding action.”
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