Ryan reportedly said on a call on Thursday with GOP lawmakers that he’s putting a “terrorism package” up for vote, which will likely include a bill to prevent someone on the terror watch list from instantly purchasing a firearm. He said there will be votes on a bill aimed at buttressing mental health programs.
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But House GOP aides said the Speaker appears set on a National Rifle Association-backed measure that requires federal agents to meet high due process standards before blocking a gun sale. John Cornyn, R-Texas, which Senate Democrats rejected as inadequate.
This announcement comes a week after House Democrats staged a 24-hour sit-in to pressure Ryan and House Republicans to hold gun control votes. Many across the country joined in Wednesday for “day of action” events against gun violence.
The move represents a shift for Ryan, who last week was sharply critical of Democrats’ protests.
If their efforts to make changes to the package, Democrats said they would meet to plan further actions in the spirit of the sit-in in order to keep their gun control efforts in headlines. The headline on the conservative news site Breitbart: “Paul Ryan blinks”.
On the call, Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., who led the sit-in, and John Larson, D-Conn., said they had requested a meeting with Ryan to discuss adding amendments to the legislation. The speaker did not specify which measure he planned to proceed with, but Democrats believe it will be similar to a proposal they voted down in the Senate last week, saying it was unworkable.
Reid said he was hopeful for a bill introduced by Republican Senator Susan Collins of ME, and a bipartisan House companion bill backed by Republicans including Representative Carlos Curbelo of Florida, that would prevent gun sales to anyone on the government’s “No Fly List” for terrorism suspects or the “Selectee List” of people subject to extra screening at airports.
Drew Hammill, spokesman for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said a vote on an NRA-written bill “just isn’t going to cut it”. Lee Zeldin of NY.
The gun ban is based on legislation written by Sen. And a third measure, which is a bipartisan compromise, would block a more narrow group of suspected terrorists from getting guns (it now lacks enough support to pass the Senate).
Cornyn’s proposal was one of the four pieces of gun-control related legislation – two from Republicans and two from Democrats – that failed to advance in the Senate on June 20.
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The discussion was described by an official on the call.
