Next week, senators will continue discussions to discuss new gun legislation. This is in response to the Robb Elementary school shooting in Uvalde Texas that resulted in 21 deaths, 19 of which were children.
They are racing against the clock to meet a deadline set by Democrats by reaching a deal before the Senate returns from its Memorial Day recess.
It is not clear that a deal will be possible soon. While the Senate will be in recess next Wednesday, the momentum could slow down. However, Democrats Sen. Chris Murphy and other lawmakers are continuing to push for negotiations in the hopes of being able take action.
Murphy spoke to a group of survivors of gun violence and advocates for reform legislation outside of the Capitol, “I know that this is a time where a lot people feel hopelessness. I know folks feel this feeling of deja vu.” “But I also know that great social change movements in the country, those you read about in the history books, don’t succeed within a year or two. They are often slow.”
A bipartisan effort to find common ground for gun control advocates has been a long process. Demonstrators aEUR”, which included survivors of gun violence, gathered at the Capitol to exert pressure on legislators in the days following the shooting in Uvalde. As it is a routine practice, only Democratic legislators were there to welcome them.
Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democratic Senator, stated that it was crippling to feel so angry and infuriated at the lack of action from those who have all the power.
Although her party is in control of Congress and the White House, the Senate votes 10 short to pass bills to address mass shootings. The gap is widening in Congress, and elsewhere.
Senator Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senate Floor, stated that while Democrats have been burned before they will try again to reach a deal.
He stated, “Families who have lost loved ones cannot accept not trying all of the above,”
Schumer says that if the talks fail, there will be a vote regardless of where each senator stands.
He stated, “I want it to be crystal clear that this isn’t an invitation to negotiate indefinitely.”
John Cornyn (Texas Republican Senator) is one of these key negotiators. He was at the Uvalde shooting scene. Cornyn was a leader in past negotiations on tight limits for gun access.
Senator McConnell, the leader of the Senate GOP, said that he encouraged Cornyn to negotiate with Democrats after his Texas trip.
Cornyn and the other Senate Republicans (such as Susan Collins in Maine and Thom Tillis from North Carolina) have been in talks with Murphy.
Murphy believes there may be a chance at a limited deal, just like the Republicans.
Murphy stated, “We will engage in bipartisan discussions to try to find the path forward.”
Murphy was elected to Congress shortly before the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in his home state a decade ago. Since then, Murphy has been working on gun control measures.
Although it is not an easy journey, he says that perseverance is the key to major social changes.
Sometimes they can take up to a decade. Murphy said that sometimes they face these enormous obstacles, these setbacks,” Murphy shared with the survivors outside the Capitol. Murphy was referring to the people behind the great social movements. “But they are so certain that the status quo is going to end that they never give up, and we will never give up,” Murphy said.
In the coming days, it will be clear if either party can come to a bipartisan agreement, or if Congress will once again remind us that we are too divided to prevent future attacks.
