New gun control measures have 'no chance' in US Senate: Analysis
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The US Senate will not accept new gun control measures where Republicans use the second amendment as an argument.
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New gun control measures have 'no chance' in US Senate: Analysis
Analysts reported that the latest comprehensive gun control plan passed by the US House of Representatives on Wednesday will not pass the Senate, which is currently working on its own bill.
Following a succession of high-profile mass shootings in the United States, including an elementary school shooting in Texas that killed 21 and a supermarket shooting in New York that killed 10, discussions in Congress on gun violence and associated gun regulations rose dramatically.
On Wednesday, the House passed gun control legislation that included raising the purchase age for certain firearms and encouraging safe gun storage, among other things. On Thursday, a new gun control bill was introduced to create a federal equivalent of so-called "red flag" legislation, which restricts gun access to those seen as a threat.
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Both initiatives have almost no chance of passing through the Senate, where Democrats hold a 51-vote majority, counting the vice president's vote because Republican lawmakers are convinced these bills violate the Second Amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees Americans the right to keep and bear arms.
"I doubt that bill will make it through the Senate, in which there are stronger advocates for gun rights than in the House of Representatives. A bipartisan committee in the Senate is trying to hammer out a compromise bill that provides for more extensive background checks for would-be gun purchasers and more available information about those who might be dangerous gun owners," Paul Gottfried, a political theorist and former Horace Raffensperger Professor of Humanities at Elizabethtown College, said, noting that the Senate has "stronger advocates for gun rights than in the House of Representatives."
He also argued that the National Rifle Association (NRA) does not influence senators who support gun ownership because they are simply following the preferences of their pro-gun constituents.
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"Politicians who are for gun rights receive very little money from this organization, which represents the right to bear arms. The NRA is almost bankrupt and therefore does not influence votes, contrary to what the mainstream media in the US keep telling us. Support for gun rights is widespread among voters, particularly but not exclusively in rural areas," Gottfried stated.
A politics professor at Birkbeck, University of London, Robert Singh stated that "this is the strongest gun control measure passed by the House in decades - but there is no chance it will pass the Senate," citing recent polling that shows that 7 in 10 Republican voters prioritize protecting gun rights over reducing gun violence.
"Since many of them vote on this single issue - unlike advocates of gun control, who consider other issues as well - it makes no sense for most Republican lawmakers to side with the forces for gun control," Singh said.
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At the same time, the Birkbeck professor emphasized the importance of the pro-gun movement in Republican lawmakers' decision-making, saying that "as risk averse legislators, they don't want to provoke the anger of gun rights groups like the NRA and get primary challenges."
"We are back in the usual cycle after mass shootings in America - a demand for 'something to be done,' and then nothing happening because of Republican obstructionism. There's no reason to expect anything different this time around and the midterms are unlikely to alter this. Most voters will be voting on the basis of the cost of living crisis, the price of gasoline, and other 'pocketbook' issues, not guns," Singh concluded.
