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WASHINGTON — Sen. John Cornyn served up a menu of options for tackling gun violence to fellow Republicans on Tuesday during their weekly luncheon.
The Texan said his presentation left colleagues in a contemplative mood.
“I sensed a lot of, you know, chin stroking,” he said.
Cornyn is the lead Republican negotiator in ongoing bipartisan Senate talks about how to respond to the country’s rampant gun violence, an assignment made all the more urgent by the recent spate of mass shootings that includes the massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.
While Cornyn was updating his side of the aisle on progress, the lead Democratic negotiator, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, was down the hall doing the same at his party’s lunch, after meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House.
Republican senators described Cornyn’s presentation as broad, with many details yet to be provided.
But Cornyn said the discussion was important as negotiators gauge which proposals have enough support to reach the magic number of 60 votes required to overcome a filibuster.
Negotiators are working through specifics of ways to boost school security and increase resources for mental health, but the most fraught area revolves around proposals related to gun sales and background checks. One idea on the table is incorporating more juvenile records into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, to ensure that dangerous 17-year-olds aren’t suddenly free to buy a semi-automatic weapon on their next birthday.
Asked if colleagues have pushed back on that proposal, Cornyn said it’s been less pushback and more practical questions about how such an approach might work.
Cornyn said the system can currently accept some of those juvenile records, but few states opt to provide them, so Congress could offer incentives for more states to do so.
Another idea is promoting red flag laws designed to at least temporarily deprive individuals of their guns if they demonstrate they are a risk to themselves or others. Conservatives, particularly some GOP House members, have blasted such laws as an unconstitutional violation of due process.
Cornyn said there’s discussion about crafting those provisions in a way that would simply support states in adopting them.
In the wake of Uvalde, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has stuck with his focus on locking up felons who try to illegally buy firearms and bolstering school security by limiting entry points and providing armed guards.
Asked Tuesday about red flag laws, Cruz described them as a “potential tool” that some states have embraced.
“It is also a tool that can be abused and I think it is critically important that any such law have vigorous protections for due process,” Cruz said.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has said he wants the talks wrapped up by the end of the week. He was pressed Tuesday by reporters on whether he’s worried the bipartisan group’s final product will be too weak to satisfy those calling for aggressive action to stop gun violence.
“Bottom line is I have a lot of faith in Senator Murphy and the Democrats who are negotiating and I don’t think they would bring to us a deal without teeth,” Schumer said.