Shootings serve as call to action

August 6, 2019

WNKY Staff,

(NBC News) Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are joining the call for action on new gun safety laws in the wake of weekend massacres in El Paso and Dayton.

“We are calling on Leader McConnell to bring the bill that passed the House, that Peter King bravely sponsored, to the floor of the Senate, A-S-A-P,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday during a joint appearance with Representative King.

King called on President Trump to make the push for background checks a priority. The House has already passed a bill, but so far Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has refused to allow a vote in the Senate.

Ohio’s Republican Governor, Mike DeWine, is pushing for so-called ‘red flag laws’ allowing firearms to be taken from those deemed a risk.

“We have to empower people to get help for family or loved ones,” DeWine said.

Many believe the laws need to go further to stop future mass shootings.

“We should re-institute the ban on assault weapons. That cut down on the number of mass murders for a decade when it was in effect,” Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown noted.

Still, some Republicans argue an assault weapons ban would make no difference.

“Assault weapons are, generally speaking, no more powerful, no more lethal, then popular hunting rifles,” Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey said when asked about possible legislation.

President Trump also appears to be resisting the call for stricter laws.

“Mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun,” he said Monday.

The president will visit both Dayton and El Paso on Wednesday.