Senate Democrats, reacting to last week's mass shooting at Umpqua Community College, launched a new push Thursday to tighten the nation's gun laws.
"The victims and their families deserve better than a Congress that shrugs its shoulders and waits for the next tragedy," said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., in a press conference on the Capitol steps. "They deserve action."
Wyden and Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., were given a prominent role in the event, which was designed to pressure Republican congressional leaders. Democrats appear to have little chance of enacting anything, but they might be able to force a vote aimed at putting senators on the record for the upcoming campaign.
The Democrats proposed expanding background checks to cover sales at gun shows and transfers among private parties. Oregon has already moved to these universal background checks, with the Legislature passing a bill this year requiring the checks for private gun transfers.
In addition, the Senate Democrats want tougher provisions banning convicted domestic abusers from obtaining firearms as well as new laws aimed at cracking down on illegal gun trafficking.
They have yet to formally introduce legislation, but the Democrats are talking about reviving a 2013 bill by Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., that gained 55 votes in the Senate in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. While the bill gained a majority, it could not muster the 60 votes needed to clear a filibuster, and the Senate's new GOP leadership has resisted bringing the issue to the floor.
Merkley and Wyden were both in Roseburg last Friday to express their condolences, and said they would save a discussion about future legislation for another day. That day arrived Thursday when they were among some two dozen Democrats speaking out on the issue.
Merkley, who was born in Douglas County and lost a distant relative in the shooting, said he was "absolutely shocked" this kind of event could happen in Roseburg.
"We need to search our souls about the actions that we can take to diminish the odds of other towns and other schools joining this list," Merkley said. "Oregon is a state with a strong tradition of hunting, of target shooting and of guns for personal and family safety. It's part of our heritage; it's part of our culture. But there are common-sense ways that we can respect these traditions while making our communities safer."
Wyden echoed President Barack Obama's call from last week that Americans should pressure their congressional lawmakers to enact new gun legislation, as he referred to both Roseburg and to the 2007 killings at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.
"These ideas would make a real difference in stopping gun violence, but they won't become law without an outcry from the American people," said Wyden, adding that "we call on Americans from Roseburg to Blacksburg to speak with one voice: End the complacency. It's time to take action against gun violence."
Critics of the legislation have argued that expanded background checks are ineffective and would not have stopped the mass shootings at Umpqua or other locations.
UPDATE: The NRA, which was silent after the Umpqua college shootings, released this statement:
President Obama proudly admits that he wants to politicize these horrific events to push his gun control agenda - and his allies in Congress are happy to do his bidding.
If Obama and gun control advocates were serious, they would address the underlying issue of America's broken mental health system. Instead, they push gun control initiatives that would not have prevented any of the tragedies they seek to exploit. In virtually every one of these situations, the murderer passed President Obama's background check, including the individual in Oregon.
The other consistent fact is that there were red flags that were ignored. As we have for 50 years, the NRA will continue to work to prevent those who are a danger to themselves and others from getting legal access to firearms. As we have for 141 years, we will also fight against those who seek to blame law-abiding gun owners for the acts of criminals and madmen.
-- Jeff Mapes
503-221-8209
@jeffmapes