Survivors and relatives of victims of recent mass shootings encouraged legislators on Capitol Hill this week to reach a compromise on gun reform negotiations or risk continuing a 30-year record of paralysis in the face of disasters from Sandy Hook to Parkland.While Senate negotiators continue their talks, the House passed the "Protect Our Kids Act" on Wednesday evening, which would raise the age limit for purchasing semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21, ban high-capacity magazines, establish firearm safe storage requirements, and tighten regulation of bump stocks and "ghost guns."
Five Republicans — Reps. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Chris Jacobs of New York, and Fred Upton of Michigan — voted in favor of the bill, while two Democrats — Reps. Jared Golden of Maine and Kurt Schrader of Oregon — voted against it in the 223-204 vote.Each Republican who crossed party lines will not be re-elected in the next Congress, and Schrader recently lost his Democratic primary. One Republican did not cast a ballot.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi smiled as her caucus applauded the vote on Wednesday.
However, House Republicans pushed back before of the vote, with Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., emphasizing that "there was no discourse about banning airplanes" after the Sept. 11 attacks — and urging the majority to undertake bipartisan negotiations like their Senate counterparts. Despite mounting cries for change, Republicans have been hesitant to enact – or simply block – reform at the federal level.The real chance to change policy is in the Senate, where a bipartisan group of negotiators is getting closer to a principled agreement on gun regulation.Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said they were discussing "a series of concrete proposals" that he's "hopeful in the next day will all be reduced to a framework that includes a broad range of commitments, in terms of dollar amounts and purposes," as he left a meeting with the group of about 11 lawmakers on Wednesday.
However, it is unclear what would be included in the final agreement, and whether it will go as far as many Americans want.
MORE: Lawmakers hear from families and students who survived the Texas school shooting as gun control pressure mounts.
"Somewhere out there, a mother is hearing our testimony and thinking to herself, 'I can't even imagine their pain,' not realizing that our reality will one day be hers — unless we act now," said Kimberly Rubio, mother of Lexi Rubio, a fourth-grader who was one of the 19 students and two teachers killed in Uvalde, Texas. "As a result, we are standing up for Lexi today. We demand action as her voice. We want assault guns and high-capacity magazines outlawed.""You ask us to keep forgiving and forgetting over and over again. What are you up to, by the way?" Senators were questioned Tuesday by Garnell Whitfield Jr., the son of Ruth Whitfield, the oldest victim of the Buffalo shooting, which killed ten African-Americans. "My mother's life was significant. Your choices here will reveal whether or not it mattered to you, and how much it mattered to you."
After lobbying lawmakers on both sides of the aisle this week, Academy Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey, who said he learned responsible gun ownership growing up in Uvalde, made a passionate plea from the White House, saying that Americans are more united on the issue of guns, but Congress is divided.
MORE: At a White House press briefing, Matthew McConaughey meets Vice President Joe Biden and makes a passionate case for gun regulation.
"Enough of the other side's invalidation. Let us now proceed to the common table, which represents the citizens of the United States of America. Find a medium ground, which is where most of us Americans dwell anyway, especially when it comes to this topic "In an emotional and extended statement, McConaughey stated. "Because I guarantee you, America — you and me, who — we are not as separated as we're told."The bipartisan group of senators, led by Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, is attempting to reach an agreement on a package that could pass Congress this week, but they're considering measures that are far less comprehensive than what both victims and President Joe Biden have publicly demanded.
Instead of universal background checks, which 89 percent of Americans support, negotiators are aiming to broaden background checks to include juvenile records, according to an ABC News/Washington Post survey. The group is considering incentivizing states to implement their own red-flag laws rather than enacting red-flag laws at the federal level, which are supported by 86 percent of Americans in the same poll. Red-flag laws temporarily remove guns from the hands of individuals who are considered a danger to themselves or others.
Senator Chris Murphy offers Vice President Joe Biden an update on Senate gun reform talks
According to Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who is involved in the talks, financing to states for mental health assistance — a measure Republicans fought for along with enhanced support for school safety — is roughly 80% finalized.The extended versions of these bills, as well as raising the age to purchase assault-style guns from 18 to 21, have bipartisan support in the Senate, but they lack Republican support to become law. To satisfy the Senate's 60-vote barrier, which is required by the filibuster rule, Democrats need 10 Republicans to join them on any bill.
Even a more modest agreement does not appear to have enough backing so far.
Despite Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's willingness to support reducing the age to purchase assault-style guns in private, sources tell ABC News' Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott that the legislation is a nonstarter for most Republicans.
When asked why Americans would need an AR-15, a CNN reporter asked him. People in South Dakota use them "to shoot prairie dogs and other forms of varmints," according to Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.A Uvalde pediatrician who examined the victims of the Robb Elementary School mass shooting described to House legislators the devastation the gunman's AR-15 had done to their tiny bodies less than 24 hours afterwards.
"Two children whose corpses had been pulverized by gunshots fired at them over and over again, whose skin had been ripped apart to the point where the only clue to their identity was the blood spattered cartoon outfits still clinging to them," said pediatrician Dr. Roy Guerrero.
What comes next?
Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader in the Senate, has given negotiators until the end of the week to come up with a framework agreement, after which it will take further time to craft legislative wording and obtain the necessary budget studies.
"I'm pushing my Democratic colleagues to keep talking," he said on the Senate floor Tuesday, "to see if Republicans will cooperate with us to come up with something that will make a genuine difference in the lives of the American people and end gun murder." "It is critical to make genuine progress. Sen. Murphy has requested that the talks continue, and I have granted him that request."
However, not every negotiator is on board with such a tight deadline.Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the lead Republican in the discussions, said on Wednesday that his "aspirational aim" is to reach an agreement "in the next couple of weeks, by the conclusion of this work period" on June 27.
While negotiators appear to be on the verge of reaching a framework agreement by Friday, one GOP staffer familiar with the situation indicated that both sides are still exchanging paper. As with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, it's feasible that members may proclaim an accord in principle and then take a few weeks to finish language.
MORE: The Justice Department will lay out plans for an investigation of the police reaction to the Uvalde incident.
In principle, Senate Democrats need 10 Republicans to join them, but some believe any accord will require even more Republican support to pass, with the belief that more Republicans will be willing to support the proposal if it had the support of their larger conference.
If negotiations fail to reach a deal, Schumer has promised to call a vote on doomed-to-fail comprehensive gun reform legislation ahead of the 2018 midterm elections to have every senator on the record.
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