The leader of the Democratic majority in the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, announced Thursday that he will seek to force a vote on firearms control in June, after the shooting two days ago at a Texas school where 19 children and two teachers died.
Schumer explained in plenary that he has not scheduled a vote this week on two legislative initiatives already approved by the Lower House, with a Democratic majority, to give time to negotiate an agreement with the Republicans.
Even so, he acknowledged that it is unlikely that both parties will reach an agreement.
"If these negotiations fail, the Senate will vote on gun safety legislation when we return." from the US Memorial Day recess next Monday, Schumer said.
He indicated that, despite his "deep skepticism"is hopeful that this week Democrats and Republicans will reach a pact to "reduce gun violence in a real way in the US".
Schumer made it clear that he is not willing to negotiate indefinitely, noting that if these efforts fail, he will schedule a vote on such legislation.
From the White House, its spokesperson, Karine Jean-Pierre, stressed that the country’s government has already "your part" with numerous pro-gun measures, and now it’s up to Congress to act.
"This president has approved more decrees than any other" against violence with firearms and "now is the time of the congress"said White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre.
The White House spokeswoman left these negotiations in the hands of the Democratic leaders in Congress and stressed that the president, Joe Biden, has already spoken on numerous occasions with Congress about these necessary reforms, but is willing to continue doing so.
The two legislative proposals approved by the lower house in March would require buyer background checks on almost all firearms transactions and would end what is called "the charleston gap"which allows the sale of weapons to proceed if the background check has not been completed in 3 days, expanding this period to 10 days.
It is currently virtually impossible for any such initiative to pass in the Senate, as Democrats have such a slim majority that they would need to convince at least ten Republicans to pass them, and conservatives have consistently opposed any gun control measure. of fire.
However, the US Congress has spent more than two decades without passing a law that significantly limits the possession of weapons, protected in the Second Amendment of the Constitution.
In addition, the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA) has helped finance the political campaigns of hundreds of members of Congress, both Democrats and Republicans, according to the Open Secrets database managed by the Center for Responsible Politics.