What Gun Control Proposals are Being Considered

The mass shooting that left 17 dead at a high school in Parkland, Florida, has led to new calls for gun control legislation in the U.S. Polling indicates that public support for such a move is at its highest point in two decades – although Republican support is soft, making an act of Congress less likely.

Here we assess the likelihood of federal action on five policies that have risen to the fore after Parkland.

State action may also be possible. That’s significant, because gun laws in the United States vary dramatically from state to state, with respect to types of guns that are permitted, where they are permitted, how they can be purchased, how they may be used, how they must be registered and more.

Ban bump stocks

Donald Trump vowed to ban bump stocks – rifle accessories used to mimic automatic fire – telling a group of governors: “I am writing that out” and “I’m getting rid of them.”

The Trump administration may be able to take unilateral action to do this, though some legislators have warned that such a ban would be a matter for Congress, and any such action is likely to face legal challenges. “The only way to close this loophole permanently is legislation,” the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, said of a bump stock ban.

For Trump to enact the ban, his justice department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms would have to overturn a previous ruling that bump stocks could be regulated under the 1934 National Firearms Act, which strictly regulates machine guns and other especially dangerous weapons.

   A bill to ban bump stocks sponsored by the California senator Dianne Feinstein    after the accessory was used in the country’s deadliest mass shooting, last year in         Las Vegas, stalled out in Congress but could be revived.

Background checks

A strong majority of Americans support stricter background checks for gun purchases. And a piece of bipartisan legislation currently before Congress, the Fix Nics 2017 Act, could start to tighten the country’s background checks system. (Nics stands for the National Instant Background Checks System.)

Age limit rise

The Florida governor, Rick Scott proposed a rise in the minimum age – from 18 to 21 – for purchasing semi-automatic weapons such as the AR-15. Three Republican senators have signalled support for the idea.

The proposal was seen as out of character for Scott, a Republican with a top rating from the NRA. He made no comparable call for gun control after the 2016 shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando that killed 49 and wounded 58.

But the NRA vehemently opposes changing the national minimum age for purchases of so-called long guns, and Cornyn, the Texas senator, recently dismissed the idea, making passage in the Senate anytime soon unlikely.

Semi-automatic weapons ban

In a march on the Florida statehouse in Tallahassee following the Parkland shootings, students who had survived called for a new assault weapons ban, starting with a ban in the Florida legislature.

But a proposal in Florida to debate a ban on semi-automatic weapons never even made it to the floor of the legislature.

On Capitol Hill, meanwhile, a Democrat in the House introduced a ban on military-style assault weapons and others, but with Republicans in the majority that bill seemed a non-starter.

Beckett, our correspondent, has noted the suggestion of experts that it may be more effective to focus simply on limiting ammunition capacity rather than on banning military-style weapons.

Arming teachers

“If you had a teacher who was adept at firearms, they could very well end the attack very quickly,” Trump said in a meeting with students after the Parkland shootings.

But almost no one with substantial experience in schools – teachers’ groups and school boards – thinks the idea is a good one. State legislative efforts to arm teachers in Alabama, Indiana and elsewhere have gathered no steam. All but four states have laws restricting guns in school zones. Nevertheless, Trump has continued to push the idea.

Links:

https://www.theguardian.com

https://www.thetrace.org