GOP Senators pass the buck on gun control

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Opinion

September 12, 2019 - 10:19 AM

“The president needs to step up here and set some guidelines for what he would do,” Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” The subject was gun control, and the choice of words was a bit ironic — if not pathetic. Everyone knows by now that President Trump will never step up on this issue — or that, if he steps up one day, he will step down the next. Hiding behind his failure is a way for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), Mr. Blunt and other Republican senators to abdicate their legislative authority and their responsibility to the country.

More than 300 million people live in the United States. They’ve elected just 100 among them to be U.S. senators. So, senators, stop waiting for Mr. Trump. Stop making excuses. Tell us what you think policy should be. Do your job.

The House has passed bipartisan gun legislation that includes expanding federal background checks. A new Post-ABC News Poll shows overwhelming support for the reform, across party and demographic lines. House Democratic leaders say they hope to pass additional reforms, including a ban on assault weapons. Taking weapons of war off the streets makes sense to us. If senators think otherwise, OK, make the case.

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