Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
"Half a loaf is better than no bread." - Thomas Jefferson, paraphrasing an ancient proverb
Political compromise used to be defined by this ancient proverb. Or as a Democratic senator once told me, progress is made through incremental change -- we'll take the half loaf today and come back next year to try again for the other half. When you demand "all or nothing" you usually get nothing.
There is not a whole lot of this "long game" patience and perseverance in today's politics. As I have said before, I blame the instant gratification society that modern technology has created. Everybody wants everything right now!
So there is bound to be disappointment for some over the bipartisan compromise bill on background checks announced today. Senators: Bipartisan deal reached on expanding gun background checks:
A bipartisan group of senators has struck a deal to expand gun background checks to all commercial sales — whether at gun shows, via the Internet or in any circumstance involving paid advertising, according to Senate aides familiar with the talks.
The amendment to the guns legislation already proposed in the Senate would not cover private transactions between individuals, unless there was advertising or an online service involved.
The agreement forged by Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.) would be more stringent than current law, which requires checks only when purchases are made through a licensed dealer, but less strict than the requirements originally sought by President Obama and congressional Democrats, who were seeking to expand background checks to nearly every kind of sale.
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“This amendment . . . will not ease the pain of the families who lost their children on that horrible day,” Manchin said at a packed news conference. “But nobody – not one of us in this great Capitol of ours, with a good conscience could sit by and not try to prevent another day like that from happening again.”
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Under the terms of the Manchin-Toomey deal all background checks would be conducted by federally licensed gun firearm dealers, who would need to verify the validity of a purchaser’s gun license and record that a check was performed. Background checks would need to be completed within three days, except at gun shows, where they would have to be completed within two days for the next four years, and then within 24 hours. In order to avoid processing delays, the FBI would be required to complete background checks requested at gun shows before those requested elsewhere.
In a key concession to Manchin, the agreement establishes a bipartisan commission to study incidents of mass violence and present Congress with potential legislation to address such incidents. The panel would bring together experts from the fields of mental health and school safety and representatives of the firearms and entertainment industries. Any proposals presented by the commission would be submitted for an up-or-down vote in Congress – a process similar to that used by the 2011 fiscal supercommittee that failed to reach an accord on budgetary matters.
“We have a culture of violence and we have a whole generation that has basically been desensitized,” Manchin said. “We’ve got to find out how we can change and reverse that.
A precise list of which transactions would be covered by the background check deal was not immediately available. One person familiar with the discussions said the proposed legislation would likely require background checks on all advertised transactions, including those posted on Internet sale sites. It was unlikely, the person said, that sales conducted through an individual, private email exchange would be governed by the new deal. But, he added, it is impossible to say with certainty until legislative language is announced.
The Senate has scheduled a vote for Thursday on a “motion to proceed,” which would officially start the debate over the most wide-ranging and ambitious gun control legislation in 20 years. Democrats seem to have assembled the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.
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“I don’t consider criminal background checks to be gun control, I think it’s just common sense,” Toomey told reporters. “It’s the people who fail criminal and mental health background checks that we don’t want having guns.”
After reviewing the details of their agreement, Toomey said: “I will tell you categorically that nothing in our amendment prevents the ownership of guns by any lawful person -- and I wouldn’t support it if it did.”
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Under the Manchin-Toomey deal, records of the newly covered transactions would be kept by federally licensed arms dealers, according to a person familiar with the agreement. Currently, licensed arms dealers keep records of gun sales that take place in gun stores.
The deal also permits licensed gun dealers to perform background checks on prospective employees and would grant licensed dealers with legal immunity from lawsuits if the weapon is subsequently used in a crime, said the aides. Dealers would be permitted to travel across state lines to sell weapons at gun shows, as long as the dealer abides by applicable state gun laws.
Members of the military would be permitted to purchase firearms in their home states and anywhere they are based, said the aides, who were not authorized to speak publicly about details of the agreement.
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Senators from both parties are likely to introduce numerous amendments to the guns bill. Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) announced Wednesday that they would introduce changes to the underlying bill’s provisions regarding gun trafficking, to provide legal protections for people legally purchasing weapons to give as a gift or as a raffle or contest prize.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) also unveiled a bill Wednesday that would bolster security for federal judges and prosecutors in response to the recent shooting deaths of Texas prosecutors. Cornyn aides said he might eventually introduce the plan as an amendment to the gun bill.
Other potential amendments include a plan from Coburn to establish an online portal for background checks and another, sponsored by dozens of senators, that would provide more federal funding for mental health programs assisting veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. There also probably will be amendments backed by the NRA, designed to make the bill less onerous for gun owners and buyers.
Any bill would need only a majority of votes to pass. After that, it goes to the Tea-Publican controled House where another long slog will begin.
The New York Times editorialized today, The Public Wants Background Checks:
Ideally, the Senate would approve a bill to require background checks for all gun sales, which would significantly improve the chances of preventing criminals and the dangerously mentally ill from buying guns.
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But the Senate could still make significant progress by approving a compromise bill that Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, a Democratic gun-rights supporter, is negotiating with Republicans, which may be the most likely way to expand the current background-check system. Though the bill is weaker than it should be, it could win the support of Patrick Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, and possibly other Republicans, as well as Democrats from conservative states.
Specifically, it would require background checks and records of buyers at advertised commercial sales of guns, including those at gun shows and on the Internet, a fast-growing market for weapons often used by those who would not qualify for a gun from a dealer.
Though it closes the biggest loopholes, the bill would not require checks for unadvertised gun transfers between individuals, like from one family member to another. This removes the important principle that every gun sale should require a background check, but the number of such sales is small enough that the bill would still be effective.
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The intense opposition of the gun lobby has already doomed the chances for a ban on assault weapons, so a background-check bill, combined with a prohibition on gun trafficking, may be the best Congress can do. It is critical that this opportunity not be lost to political cowardice.
Or to "all or nothing" demands.
UPDATE: A caveat from Beltway media villager Chris Cillizza, Gun control advocates are celebrating. They might want to hold off:
“Republicans are eager to get into an open amendment process so that they can turn a responsible gun control bill into a round of NRA-backed amendments that only need 51 votes to approve,” warned one senior Democratic operative granted anonymity to speak candidly about strategy matters. “This could be a nightmare for Democrats that care about these issues.”
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