• Newtown passion moves Senate vote on guns

    By Kasie Hunt, Political Reporter, NBC News

    This week, the U.S. Senate remembered Newtown.

    Last Thursday morning, no Senate Republicans were actively talking to Democrats about gun legislation. GOP senators were piling on to a threatened filibuster. And top Senate aides quietly doubted whether they could even scrape together the 60 votes needed to begin debating the bill on the floor. While the president had recently declared “we have not forgotten” the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, even the most vocal advocates of gun control started to wonder if too much time had passed for the tragedy's emotional resonance to lead to the first major federal gun control legislation since the 1990s.

    Majority Leader Harry Reid thanks members of the U.S. Senate who voted in favor of proceeding toward consideration of a firearm reform bill.

    But this Thursday, an unexpectedly overwhelming majority of senators -- including 16 members of the GOP -- voted to begin the process of debating a gun bill.

    Sitting in the gallery, crying with relief, were more than a dozen family members of the 20 young children and six educators killed on Dec. 14 in Newtown, Conn.

    "The tears that we had weren't tears of joy, but tears of remembering this is happening. We're here because of what happened to us," Jillian Soto, whose sister was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School, told NBC News a few minutes after the 68-31 vote.

    They were reprising on the national stage a role they played in Connecticut's state legislature, according to Democrat Chris Murphy, their home-state senator. Connecticut lawmakers just passed a ban on high-capacity magazines and added to its list of outlawed assault weapons.

    "Four weeks ago, I was getting panicky phone calls from my friends in the state legislature telling me that the state legislature was not going to pass a ban on high capacity ammunition," Murphy said after the vote. "The Newtown families mobilized, and changed the calculus in Hartford. And I think that they are changing the calculus here as well."

    Win Mcnamee / Getty Images

    Prior to the first vote on gun reform in the U.S. Senate, Jillian Soto, Miya Rahamim and Carol Gardner join with other members of families of victims of gun violence as the names of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting are read aloud at the U.S. Capitol April 11, 2013 in Washington, DC.

    Asked if their presence in Washington this week had helped contribute to the lopsided vote, Republican Sen. John McCain said: "Yes." It's a sentiment at least three other Republicans echoed in conversations over past several days.

    "I might not vote the way they wanted me to vote, but giving them the chance to be heard, giving them a chance to tell their story meant a lot to them and it meant a lot to me," Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., said Tuesday after he met with the families. "I'm not going to vote for a filibuster. I think they deserve an up or down vote."

    Not all the relatives of those killed at Newtown are supportive of new federal measures. One father appeared earlier this month at a National Rifle Association-sponsored event and spoke out against new gun laws.

    Most Republicans and two Democrats still voted against opening debate on the bill, warning that the bill infringes on Americans' Second Amendment rights. Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz warned that it would ultimately lead the country toward a national gun registry.

    But for the family members who sat in the chamber and watched Thursday's vote, it was a relief.

    The vote came after three days of quiet, unusual and emotional lobbying that began with a flight from Connecticut to Washington on Air Force One. They had attended Obama's emotional speech in Hartford, Conn., where he pleaded with Americans to urge Congress to debate and vote on new gun laws.

    During their time on Capitol Hill, they met with members from both parties and with varied opinions on the gun control legislation the Senate is now set to debate -- from Cruz, who threatened a filibuster; to rank-and-file Democrats like Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia; to Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., the broker of a critical compromise.

    What they helped achieve was a subtle but marked shift in the prevailing mood on guns.

    Late last week, senators backing new restrictions were privately worrying that a less dramatic piece of the gun bill -- a provision on gun trafficking -- was getting watered down by the gun lobby. The whole package seemed to be teetering; a pile of Republicans -- 14 in all, including top GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell -- signed on to support a filibuster.

    Late Friday, there was word that Sen. Pat Toomey was working with Manchin on a deal that could possibly draw Republican support. But the conservative Pennsylvania Republican's office cautioned: He was also talking to Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn, who by then had cooled on negotiations with Democrats. There was no deal yet. Senate leadership aides were warning the White House not to put too much stock in the discussions; they weren't optimistic that it would go very far.

    Talks continued through the weekend. The NRA was constantly involved. On Sunday night, CBS News' "60 Minutes" aired a group interview with family members, who called on Congress to act -- or at least vote.

    The president spoke in Connecticut Monday. The families had breakfast with Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday morning before coming to Capitol Hill.

    Late that evening, Senate aides were quietly saying a compromise between Manchin and Toomey to expand background checks was close at hand. Toomey's participation in the deal reflects the political reality back home in Pennsylvania -- many of the state's swing voters live outside Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, where gun control has wide support. He'll need those voters in 2016, when he's up for reelection -- and when the presidential race will mean more Democrats will probably turn out to vote.

    By Wednesday morning, Toomey was on board and the deal was done-- and that afternoon, family members met first with Toomey and then with Manchin in his office.

    "I'm a parent; I'm a grandparent," Manchin said in a near-whisper, choked up, when a reporter asked how the families had impacted his work. One of the parents offered him a tissue. Others in the group also began to cry.

    Meanwhile, the GOP senators who were considering taking a stand against debating the gun bill on the floor -- Cruz, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah -- went silent. Two planned press conferences on guns were scheduled, then canceled. Privately, GOP leaders worried their public stand would do serious damage to the party.

    There was no public filibuster. Instead, Republicans quietly objected to a procedural motion, trying to keep the Senate from formally opening debate on the gun bill.

    "We should have 60 vote hurdles if they want to try to abridge the Second Amendment," Paul said Thursday.

    The night before, the NRA put out a scathing letter opposing the background check compromise and threatening to dock lawmakers’ ratings if they vote to end debate on the bill’s final passage. But that didn’t faze Toomey, an A-rated Republican, who said he wasn’t surprised by the group’s letter. The NRA also left lawmakers with the impression it wouldn’t score the Thursday vote to start debating gun laws.

    Thursday's vote to begin debate is likely the easiest part of an uncertain process. There are potentially dozens of hurdles before it reaches ultimate  passage in the Senate. That’s far from certain, with a number of Republicans who voted to start debate today warning that they might not support the final legislation. The Senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell, voted against starting debate on the gun bill in the first place.

    For the bill's opponents, the best chance of defeating it could come by adding an amendment that would anger gun control groups and prompt Democrats to oppose the bill. In 2009, for example, a measure to require states to recognize concealed weapons permits from other states received 58 votes; the NRA has been pushing hard to add that into this bill.

    The bill's future is even less certain in the House, controlled by Republicans. A bipartisan pair of congressmen -- Republican Peter King and Democrat Mike Thompson -- introduced an expanded background check bill in the House that mirrors the Senate compromise.

    But the Connecticut families are vowing to maintain their presence on Capitol Hill throughout what their senators have warned will be a long process.

    Said Soto, whose sister was killed: "This is one thing we needed done, and we're not going anywhere.”

    __

    NBC's Kelly O'Donnell, Mike Viqueira, Frank Thorp, Luke Russert and Carrie Dann contributed to this report.

  • Bloomberg, NRA steel for springtime battle over gun control

    By Michael O'Brien, Political Reporter, NBC News

     

    Capitol Hill will play host to a springtime clash over gun rights, as lawmakers prepare to take up significant gun control legislation for the first time in years. 

    New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg discusses the momentum toward reform of gun control laws and what direction the country is headed with its weapons control policy.

    The Senate will take up a new bill next month intended to require background checks for every firearm purchase in the country — and proponents of the legislation are girding for a major political showdown against supporters of gun rights and its principal advocacy group, the National Rifle Association. 

    New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has emerged as one of the most forceful national backers of stricter gun laws, and this weekend launched a $12 million television ad campaign meant to pressure wavering senators to support the new legislation when they return from their holiday break.

    The NRA's Wayne LaPierre responds to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's gun control reform initiatives and discusses the legislation pending on Capitol Hill.

    "We're trying to do everything we can to impress upon the Senators that this is what the survivors want, this is what the public wants," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday. He added later: "If 90 percent of the public want something, and their representatives vote against that, common sense says, they are going to have a price to pay for that."

    But his push has been met with strict resistance by the NRA, which has dug in against stricter controls on guns since last December's massacre at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., the catalyzing event for President Barack Obama's renewed push for new gun laws. 

    "He can't spend enough of of his $27 billion to impose his will on the American people," said Wayne LaPierre, the NRA's CEO and executive vice president, of Bloomberg's new advertising effort. "He can't buy America."

    Already, advocates of stricter gun laws have suffered setbacks due to the NRA's resistance. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said this week that he would move forward with legislation following the holiday recess, but said it would exclude a reinstatement of the ban on assault weapons, which appears to lack sufficient support to move forward in the Senate. But Democrats will seek a vote on the ban in the form of an amendment, laying down a political marker — which Bloomberg said he would be watching closely.

    "I don't think we should give up on the assault weapons ban," he said. "But clearly, it is a more difficult issue for a lot of people … It may be just that people have different views about assault weapons than they do about background checks."

    But even the proposed expansion of background checks is far from assured passage in Congress. Failing to advance this more modest gun control would be a blow to efforts to advance gun controls, even with a high-profile event like the Newtown massacre providing an impetus for action.

    LaPierre derided the proposal on background checks as little more than "a speed bump for the law-abiding." Though the NRA had supported the background check system in the past, LaPierre said it was "not fair," "not accurate" and "not instant" in practice.

    New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is trying to create a counterweight to the NRA, as the future of the nation's gun laws remains uncertain in Congress. NBC's Kristen Welker reports.

  • Biden makes forceful call for gun controls in speech near Sandy Hook

    By Alex Moe, NBC News

     

    DANBURY, Conn. – Vice President Joe Biden made a forceful case for the Obama administration's gun control initiatives on Thursday in a speech less than 15 miles down the road from the site of December's Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting.

    “I say it's unacceptable not to take this on. It's just simply unacceptable. I say to my colleagues ... if you're concerned about your political survival you should be concerned about the survival of our children,” the vice president said two months after the shooting rampage. ”I believe the price to be paid politically to those who refuse to act, who refuse to step forward, because America has changed on this issue.”

    “You should all know the American people are with us. They should know. You all should know. There is a moral price to be paid for inaction," he added.

    RELATED: Gun debate is changing the Democratic Party

    Continuing his role as the Obama administration's public advocate on gun control, Biden spoke for nearly 30 minutes and met with two of the Newtown shooting victim’s families beforehand.

    Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a conference on gun control Thursday in Connecticut.

    Adam Lanza, whose shooting spree killed 26 first-graders and educators, took classes as a teenager at Western Connecticut State University -- the venue of Thursday’s conference.

    “We have to speak for all those voices -- for the 20 beautiful children who died 69 days ago because they can’t speak for themselves,” Biden told the nearly 300-person crowd. "I can't imagine how we will be judged as a society if we do nothing."

    Secretary of Education Arne Duncan echoed similar themes in his remarks.

    “Ladies and gentlemen, sometimes you pick the time, sometimes the time picks you and sadly the time has picked us and I’m just convinced that as a country if we don't move forward in a thoughtful way to do something to protect our babies, it will never happen,” he said.

    In the wake of the school massacre, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Newtown Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-Conn., held this conference, with panel discussions on reform to federal gun laws and one on mental health and school safety.

    “Preventing gun violence was thought to be untouchable politically two months ago. That unspeakable horror has given us unstoppable momentum and we must seize this historic moment,” Blumenthal said.

    Chris and Lynn McDonnell lost their 7-year-old daughter, Grace, during the shooting on Dec. 14. The couple spoke on the morning panel about gun violence as Grace’s “voice” in this national discussion.

    “We ask that our representatives look into their hearts and remember the 26 beautiful lives that were lost,” Lynn McDonnell pleaded, pausing to compose herself as she remembered her daughter.

    After a series of high-profile mass shootings during President Barack Obama’s first term, he unveiled his proposals for stricter gun laws last month. His various initiatives include universal background checks on all gun sales, bans on military style assault weapons and bans on high-capacity magazines.

    “Whatever laws we have on the books in our state, the need for strong federal legislation has never been clearer. The proposals outlined by the White House will make us and our children safer, no doubt about it,” Democratic Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy advocated.

    While debate in Congress is ongoing, and the National Rifle Association vows to fight any new laws, both Obama and  Biden continue to push their agenda across the country.

    Just Tuesday, Biden participated in a Facebook town hall with Parents magazine and assured individuals their ability to defend themselves will not be taken away completely.

    "If you want to protect yourself, get a double-barreled shotgun," he said. "Have the shells of a 12-gauge shotgun and I promise you - as I told my wife … 'Jill, if there is ever a problem, just walk out on the balcony here, walk out, put that double barreled shotgun and fire two blasts outside the house. I promise you whoever is coming in is not going to.'"

  • Assault weapons ban remains politically tricky for White House

    By Shawna Thomas, NBC News

     

    As the White House considers proposals to curb gun violence, a potential re-upping of the 1990s ban on assault weapons has emerged as the most politically difficult measure for activists hoping to keep the most dangerous weapons out of criminal hands.

    But, after pro-gun groups met with Vice President Joe Biden's task force on violence prevention yesterday, at least one participant came away believing that it's a fight that President Barack Obama is willing to try.

    Richard Feldman, the president of the Independent Firearm Owners Association said that Biden left the group with the “clear implication” that the president would pursue an assault weapons ban in addition to other regulatory measures. 

    In naming possible new regulations this week, Biden mentioned universal background checks and restrictions on high-capacity magazines but did not refer specifically to an assault weapon moratorium. The president and his spokespeople have said repeatedly that the administration is in favor of an assault weapons ban.

    White House officials say Vice President Joe Biden has offered to speak with families impacted by the Newtown tragedy for their input as he negotiates solutions to gun violence in the U.S. NBC's Kristen Welker reports.

    Feldman told NBC News said the conversation in the closed-door meeting with gun rights groups was “wide ranging."

    “We certainly talked rather extensively about civil commitment laws," he said. "The Attorney General was in the meeting. We talked about enforcement procedures against violations.”

    Feldman’s take on the session seemed to be different than the National Rifle Association’s, which came out with a fairly combative statement late in the day indicating that the White House was not open to hearing the concerns of Second Amendment proponents.

    “I think that it was a conversation and it wasn't a lecture,” Feldman countered. 

    When asked about the NRA’s characterization of the meeting, Feldman praised NRA advocate Jim Baker for forcefully voicing the concerns of the nation's most powerful gun group.

    "I think the vice president, who knows Jim, listened to them," he added. "But you know, we come at this from different positions.”

    The NRA has stated that they’re going to take their argument up to Capitol Hill, something that some experts say could be part of a two-path approach for the gun rights group.

    “My guess is what we're going to see is a kind of two-layer game," said Don Kettl, dean of the Public Policy School at the University of Maryland. "For the NRA itself, they've made very clear so far that they're just not interested in anything that remotely involves any effort to try to reduce the availability of guns, or ammunition or any of the other pieces or anything that would restrict the ownership of guns. But behind the scenes I suspect they and some of their lobbyists are going to be working very carefully to try to find ways of at least minimizing, from their point of view, the damage.”

    Kettl thinks this could be a defining moment for the group, “Deep down this is one of those line-in-the-sand kind of issues that will be the make or break for the NRA's power. And I suspect we are in the middle of a defining debate in the pubic right now about the role of guns in American society.”