Pelosi Promises New Movement On Gun Control

Democrats throughout the country ran on gun control, and while it wasn’t the big winner they thought it would be, it seems that they’re going to try something a bit unusual for them. They’re going to try to keep their word.

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Despite modest gains in the House and actually losing ground in the Senate, Democrats feel like they still should go forward with a radical progressive agenda when it comes to guns.

Newly ascendant Democrats are promising congressional action on gun control amid a rash of mass shootings, including a late-night assault at a California bar that killed 12 people.

Measures including expanded background checks and a ban on assault-style weapons are likely to reach the House floor when Democrats retake control after eight years of Republican rule.

“The American people deserve real action to end the daily epidemic of gun violence that is stealing the lives of our children on campuses, in places of worship and on our streets,” said Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader who is running for a second stint as House speaker.

Pelosi vowed to push for a range of actions to stem gun violence, including restrictions on high-capacity magazines and a measure allowing temporary removal of guns from people deemed an imminent risk to themselves or others.

The measures could win approval in the Democratic-controlled House next year but will face opposition from the Republican-controlled Senate and the White House, where President Donald Trump has promised to “protect the Second Amendment.”

Still, gun control advocates believe they have the political momentum to make guns a central issue next year.

The political calculus on guns is changing, said Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch, whose Florida district includes the Parkland high school where 17 people were killed in February.

“We saw it start on Tuesday and we’re going to see it accelerate in January,” he said.

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Of course, they forget that taking the House was a historical certainty not because of guns, but because the president’s party almost always loses seats in the House. This time was no different, nor was it really expected to be.

What it wasn’t, though, was a mandate to try and push through the most liberal agenda they could imagine, especially when it comes to guns.

Luckily, they can try all they want, it’s still not going anywhere.

Over the next two years, expect the House to pass bill after bill restricting gun rights. I mean, expect anything and everything. At this point, a total gun ban coming out of the House during this period wouldn’t shock me.

Then it’ll run right into the Senate, where Republicans made significant gains themselves. You know, the same Republican Party that they argue is oh-so-beholden to the National Rifle Association? Yeah, that Republican Party.

Whoops.

Yeah, they’ll push and push for gun control over the next two years, possibly to the exclusion of anything else, and they’ll probably do more to combat the NRA’s current financial situation than any gun rights advocate could ever dream of doing. After all, the more pressure you place on the firearm industry, the better everyone does within the firearm industry.

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But it’s not like anti-gunners think things through on a regular basis, anyway.

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