Congress remains in recess until September 9th, and the farther we get from Dayton and El Paso, the less likely it seems for any meaningful gun legislation. From Politico Playbook:
“If you are someone who is looking forward to Congress coming back into session and passing gun control, take a look at what President Donald Trump said Sunday before leaving New Jersey.
“Question: “But you’re not willing to support universal background checks right now?”
“Trump: “I’m not saying anything. I’m saying Congress is going to be reporting back to me with ideas. And they’ll come in from Democrats and Republicans. And I’ll look at it very strongly. But just remember, we already have a lot of background checks. OK? Thank you.”
Earlier in the gaggle , Trump said this: “They have bipartisan committees working on background checks and various other things. And we’ll see. I don’t want people to forget that this is a mental health problem. I don’t want them to forget that, because it is. It’s a mental health problem.”
According to a NBC News/Wall St. Journal poll, Americans are strongly in favor of Congressional action.
- 89% of voters favor expanding background checks
- 76% support “red flag” laws
- 75% are in favor of voluntary gun buybacks
But perhaps most importantly as the GOP tries to court suburban women, there’s this from The Daily 202 and The Washington Post:
“A new poll conducted by a premier Republican polling firm shows that about 3 in 4 suburban women favor stricter gun laws.
“The female respondents were read six issues and asked which they want their lawmaker to focus on the most. Working to prevent gun violence was No. 1, selected by 30 percent of suburban women. Health care was No. 2, with 24 percent, followed by addressing illegal immigration (14 percent) as the No. 3 priority.“
