Gun control hopes dashed as lawmakers signal shift to banking reform

After a flurry of activity and a sense of urgency in the face of public outrage, lawmakers left Washington without passing gun legislation

In just three weeks, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators are expected to march on Washington to demand Congress act to prevent gun violence, in the aftermath of the Parkland massacre last month. But on Thursday, lawmakers left Washington after their first week back since the Florida school shooting – without a plan.

There was a flurry of activity on Capitol Hill and a sense of urgency in both parties that inaction was no longer an option in the face of public outrage, led by the Florida students who survived the attack.

But the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, announced that the chamber would move on to banking legislation next week – extinguishing hope that lawmakers would act swiftly to pass gun legislation after the Valentine’s Day shooting that left 17 students and educators dead.

“We’d love to do that at some point,” McConnell told reporters on Thursday. “I’m hoping there’s a way forward.”

The timeline means Congress will probably be embroiled in a debate over guns for several more weeks. On 24 March, as many as 500,000 people are expected to attend the “March for Our Lives” rally against gun violence in Washington, organized by Parkland students. Some lawmakers hope the event will act as a deadline for legislative action.

The Senate had appeared on track to move forward with a proposal most lawmakers viewed as modest at best, when the president upended the debate and demanded a stronger bill at a bipartisan meeting with lawmakers this week.

During the televised meeting on Wednesday, Trump repeatedly embraced legislation that the National Rifle Association has long opposed. The bill, first introduced by the Republican senator Pat Toomey and Democratic senator Joe Manchin after the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in 2012, would expand background checks to weapons purchased at gun shows and online.

“If the president embraces something like Manchin-Toomey, a bill that had broad bipartisan support but couldn’t quite get to 60 votes, the president could really make the difference,” Toomey said, appealing to Trump from the president’s favorite morning show, Fox & Friends on Fox News.

Toomey admitted the bill still did not have enough support to pass the Senate, but said that could change with a serious lobbying effort by the president, who maintains strong support from the conservative voters most likely to oppose such legislation.

Democrats, too, sensed a similar opportunity and urged Trump to put some “elbow grease” into the fight to help sway Republicans.

“One public meeting will not close background check loopholes,” said Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the Senate. “One hour of television won’t get assault weapons off our streets. The NRA has had the Republican party in a headlock for decades. Only the president – this president – will have the power to overcome their strength.”

Schumer said the moment offered the “best chance we’ve had in decades” for Congress to pass consequential gun control legislation .

Among other measures, Senate Democrats want a full debate on whether to restore a ban on semi-automatic rifles.

The plan with the most support after the Parkland shooting is an incremental bill that would incentivize public agencies to improve reporting to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Checks System.

But even Democratic supporters of the legislation say it’s inadequate. And on Wednesday, Trump appeared to agree, suggesting the bill, called Fix Nics, was too incremental. He asked its sponsor, the Senate majority whip, John Cornyn, to work with other members of the Senate to turn it into a broader background bill – with a better name.

Trump called for a “beautiful” bill that would expand background checks on gun purchases while also endorsing measures that would bolster security on school campuses, restrict young people from purchasing certain weapons, and remove guns from the hands of the mentally ill without a court order. The latter enraged conservatives, including NRA members and at Breitbart, the Trump-friendly website, which denounced the president as a “gun grabber”.

The president also repeatedly accused Republicans of being “petrified” of the NRA, declaring himself unafraid to stand up to the powerful gun lobby.

Just before 4am on Thursday morning, Trump said on Twitter that “Background Checks a big part of conversation”.

He also said that many ideas, “some good & some not so good”, came out of Wednesday’s White House meeting on gun control and school safety.

Wednesday’s White House event, like several past policy meetings with the president, left Republicans stunned and confused after he urged lawmakers to resurrect legislation that breaks with decades of party orthodoxy.

“It was wild,” Senator John Thune, the third-ranking Republican, said of the televised meeting.

“But I think the president is going to have to narrow his list of issues he would like to see addressed and figure out what’s realistic.”