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Subscribe to RSSSenators negotiating a bill mandating background checks for all gun buyers are privately expecting the National Rifle Association not to fight the measure -- provided the legislation does not require private gun sellers to maintain records of the checks, NBC News has learned.
If that requirement is met and key Republican negotiator Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma signs on, the powerful gun lobby has signaled to lawmakers that they would not actively oppose the bill -- and not count votes in favor of it as part of its highly influential NRA lawmaker ratings -- according to Senate aides familiar with the stalled negotiations.
Such a deal could clear the way for a universal background check bill, a central tenet of President Barack Obama's gun control initiative, to pass the Senate with significant Republican support. Odds of passage in the House would brighten significantly as a result.
The NRA denies being part of any agreement. "We do not take positions on hypotheticals. We will make our position known if and when legislation is introduced," said Chris Cox, the group's top lobbyist.
The NRA is still adamantly opposed to expanding background checks to private sales. "To be clear, the National Rifle Association does not support legislation that would criminalize otherwise lawful transfers of firearms between law abiding Americans," Cox said.
EARLIER: Panel advances background check bill, but its path remains clear
Such a decision would mark the first major compromise from the group in the wake of the elementary school shootings that killed 26 in Newtown, Conn. The NRA has signed on to a bipartisan mental health bill and are talking to senators about gun trafficking legislation. But with an assault weapons ban not likely to pass, the background check bill is the main legislative fight over new gun restrictions.
Still, Democrats have balked at this development: Leaving such a provision out, they say, would make the law toothless and would never earn support from gun control advocacy groups.
But without the record-keeping provision -- and the blind eye from the NRA -- Democrats would instead have to squeak their way to the 60 votes needed to pass in the upper chamber, potentially risking the whole package.
Both sides say it's tough to compromise on the issue of records. Coburn and the NRA argue that requiring private sellers to keep a record of each background check and gun sale would start down a slippery slope to a national gun registry. Gun control advocates, on the other hand, say enforcing any background check law would be all but impossible if records aren’t kept, and thus would have little impact on the criminals the bill is designed to target.
Jacquelyn Martin / Jacquelyn Martin / AP
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. walks toward the Senate chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, Dec. 31, 2012.
"With about 90 percent of the public calling for a comprehensive background check system, the incentive to agree to a bill that only law abiding people will comply with, and that people we're trying to reach will ignore, is vanishingly small," said Mark Glaze, the executive director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a group headed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
"Background checks do not and cannot lead to gun registration. It's a lie meant to muddy the debate and distract from our common goal -- saving lives with solutions that Americans support overwhelmingly," Mark Kelly, the husband of former Rep. Gabby Giffords, said in a Tuesday statement.
Coburn, who holds an "A" rating from the NRA, has been locked in closed meetings with Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., over the background check legislation.
Coburn and Manchin insist they're still talking, and Manchin said he was on the phone Tuesday with the NRA. He and Coburn have shared legislative language with the group as they've worked on an agreement.
"Tom Coburn and I come from a culture, a background, a culture of guns. So I think the NRA would respect and appreciate where we're coming from, with the understanding that we understand our NRA members," Manchin told NBC News on Tuesday. "I'm an NRA member, Tom's an NRA member, and they're looking at that. And hopefully we can find some common ground."
But the background check discussions with Schumer have stalled -- and the New Yorker is now reaching out in an effort to find another Republican who might be willing to sign on. The list includes moderates, like Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, and Republican senators who aren't running for re-election, like Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss.
Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
Sen. Chuck Schumer boards an elevator at the U.S. Capitol on March 12, 2013 in Washington, D.C.
Sources familiar with the negotiations suggest that Schumer has only made a public break with Coburn because he's trying to convince groups on the left -- the Bloomberg group, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, and others -- that they need to give in on record-keeping in order to save a broader package.
Glaze said that's a no-go, indicating that his group -- backed by Bloomberg's billions -- would instead air ads in senators' home states attacking them for not going further in their quest to stop gun violence.
"We're going to take the time to get out into the country and have that conversation with members and their constituents, and we will see where we end up in the late summer," Glaze said.
Asked about the groups' position Tuesday, Manchin emphasized the realities of getting a bill passed.
"I respect their position, but basically, we have 535 members, and they all have certain concerns and considerations to be taken. If you want to pass something, you have to work within a, a compromise if you will, bipartisan arena," he said.
NBC's Mike Viqueira contributed.
This story was originally published on Tue Mar 12, 2013 5:01 PM EDT
Leave a Comment:
then if they pee in a cup
and it come back that they are on dope, then in the gun law form ask do you do drugs, and if they are a gun owner and have bought a gun ,
then you can get them for falsifying and that is 10 years 250k fine per,
news people would love this story , im telling you ,
I really doubt the veracity of that story. These are serious felonies and with electronic evidence, charges could easily be filed and heads would roll.
However, there is no mention of legal redress by this guy. Until I see some legal action as follow up to these alledged events, I'll keep it filed in my BS folder.
yea chip
we would hope not but as the same as we talk on these issues
because someone killed babys in a school .
which is unbelievable to right ,
or was that a movie, the media and the people put on to get the guns people going to get there bans
now days you might think these was a lie ,
will i think not as we go back to the 70's
and a sheriff of brourdford co., buford t pusser the movie was called
walking tall ,, you never no what is going on behind them doors even in the highes places,
ol we no what clinton was doing tho , ahhaaha
need to but that in to a b,s file ,
ALL YOU Libs make me puke...
Statement from Chris W. Cox, NRA-ILA Executive Director, regarding inaccurate NBC story alleging that NRA won't oppose background check bill... read FALSE STORY from NBC
An article appearing today on NBCNews.com is FALSELY reporting that NRA will not oppose legislation being negotiated in the U.S. Senate that would mandate background checks for all gun purchasers.
The story posted on NBCNews.com alleges that NRA will not oppose expanding the background check system to include all private firearm sales, "provided the legislation does not require private gun sellers to maintain records of the checks". This statement is completely untrue. The NRA opposes criminalizing private firearms transfers between law-abiding individuals, and therefore opposes an expansion of the background check system.
The NRA supports meaningful efforts to address the problems of violent crime and mass violence in America, through swift and certain prosecution of violent criminals; securing our schools; and fixing our broken mental health system.
I want all of you Liberal pieces of crap who post her to come to my home personaly take my guns.
So if we don't have proof that someone did a background check on a gun buyer, then the law has no "teeth", but if we have proof that someone is allowed to vote, that's racist.
It should not be hard to understand that honest, good people want to be able to own a gun for their own protection unencumbered. It should not be hard to understand that if you pass laws against having guns these laws are only for the honest good people. However, this issue is just like any other issue with the left, they simply do not want to listen to reason. Using Sandy Hook to advance their agenda is heinous.
ScubaGolfJim
The NRA "leadership" can still just go straight to hell. They do not listen to their own membership. They do the bidding of the manufacturers of 5.5 million guns a year.
Yeah they do. It's called polling. Independent companies do it all the time. News organizations report those findings. Didn't see them on Faux Nuts? That's because I said NEWS organizations report them. Maybe pay attention the next time a poll comes out stating that over 80% of NRA members want Universal background Checks and provisions in place to prevent 'straw' purchases.
I got news for you Scubagolfjim,
That 80% of NRA Members is a lie. The NRA does not make available (sell) their membership roles for polls. That is another fabrication of the Marxist regime in the WH.
Some Lame Name Here
You said: :
"Last I heard was that Adam Lanza was prevented from buying a gun because he failed the background check, it did what it was suppose to do which is why he killed his mother who was legally able to own guns and took hers. So how would more stringent background checks have stopped Sandy Hook?"
Adam Lanza did not fail a background check. There was a story that he had tried to buy a gun but did not want to wait the mandatory 14 days for the background check. However, he could not have legally purchased a gun in Connecticut. He was only 20 and the age requirement in Connecticut is 21.
In my opinion background checks won't resolve many of the issues. Mental health history is protected and has to be volunteered. There is also the issue of defining exactly what is considered a mental health issue. But we have to start somewhere.
I don't really understand the fear "law-abiding citizens" have regarding registration of their firearms. Can someone explain that to me? Is it fear of taxes or that someone will literally try to confiscate them?
I, personally, do not care if someone wants to own guns. I want to see a federal mandate that requires gun owners to purchase liability insurance. All new sales and resales would require a PIN.
Those of you making comments here who are against the NRAs obvious control of our government need to really start speaking up. We need to drown out the noise of the few gun owners who talk very loud but make no sense. I believe most gun owners believe in common sense reform. I urge you all to join groups like Mayors Against Illegal Guns, or MoveOn.org and begin a fight against the NRA and the Republicans they have purchased.
I have a solution for gun violence...summary execution of anyone who uses a firearm in the commission of any crime, whether it be a vandalism, a game violation, a robbery, a rape or murder. If they have shown a willingness to use deadly force to commit any crime and are convicted or even if they plead out...they get the lethal injection, the electric chair, the gas chamber, the hangmans noose or the firing squad...let them have the choice but kill them. There will be many who then decide that they don't want to play that game. There is no solution for those who are mentally unstable and go off without warning but for those who are mentally unstable and show warning signs, it should be a felony crime if those who see the signs don't report such...even if the wacko is your own child.
There's an old commercial, the theme of which is "Lies, lies, lies!" How true her of this fallacious article depicting the NRA erroneously, but intentionally. If the media doesn't like the facts, the change them, manipulate them, or omit them.