On the eve of a Senate vote to authorize debate of new gun controls, two of the most conservative U.S. senators in the major parties announced Wednesday they worked out a proposal to expand background checks that they expect will get an actual up or down vote if debate is allowed.
Gun-rights advocates immediately criticized the proposal; gun-control supporters praised it.
The proposal by U.S. Sens. Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican, and Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, would require background checks before sales at a gun show or online, but allow sales without checks between friends and family.
"I'm a gun owner and the rights that are enshrined in the Second Amendment are very, very important to me personally as they are to people across Pennsylvania," Mr. Toomey said during a Capitol news conference televised on the C-Span cable network. "I've got to tell you candidly, I don't consider criminal background checks to be gun control. I think it's just common sense. If you pass a criminal background check, you get to buy a gun."
Mr. Toomey and Mr. Manchin said their proposal will reach the Senate floor as an amendment that will be the first considered if and when action on the bill begins. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to call for a vote today that would allow the gun-control debate just to proceed.
In a statement, the National Rifle Association denounced the deal between Mr. Toomey and Mr. Manchin.
"Expanding background checks at gun shows will not prevent the next shooting, will not solve violent crime and will not keep our kids safe in schools," the statement said.
Only a "serious and meaningful solution" that addresses gangs and "a broken mental health system" will increase safety, according to the NRA.
Mr. Toomey and Mr. Manchin said they had consulted with the NRA, but did not comment on its opposition to their plan.
"The common ground rests on a simple proposition," Mr. Toomey said. "Criminals and the dangerously mentally ill shouldn't have guns. I don't know anyone who disagrees with that premise."
President Barack Obama is pushing hard for new controls on gun ownership to prevent repeats of mass gun slayings in Newtown, Conn., Aurora, Colo., and Tucson, Ariz.. but his agenda is running into the typically heavy opposition that has accompanied attempts at gun control for two generations. Senate Republicans are threatening to derail any proposed legislation.
A group of more than 75 state House Republicans urged Mr. Toomey to reject all new gun-control measures.
Not everyone disliked the bipartisan plan fashioned by the two senators from neighboring states.
CeaseFirePA, a coalition of mayors, police chiefs, church leaders and community organizations, thanked Mr. Toomey for backing a proposal that takes "tangible steps in the fight against gun violence without infringing on the rights of law abiding gun owners."
Mr. Toomey acknowledged the fate of his and Mr. Manchin's proposal is far from certain.
"I don't know," he said. "I'm looking forward to the debate, I'm hopeful, but I think this is a fluid situation and it's hard to predict."
Mr. Manchin said gun advocates in his state understand the need for background checks.
"They understand it's common sense, it's gun sense," he said.
Mr. Toomey, who as a senator has focused on budgetary, tax and job-creation issues, said he got involved in the gun-control battle because "gun legislation appeared destined to reach the Senate floor" and because he felt other proposals could infringe on gun ownership rights.
"I would tell you categorically that nothing in our amendment prevents the ownership of guns by any lawful person and I wouldn't support it if it did," he said. "But it also became apparent to me, in the course of this debate, there was the danger we might end up accomplishing nothing and not making progress where we could."
Mr. Toomey pointed to provisions in their measure that would actually strengthen gun rights - allowing hunters to travel with their guns across state lines and members of the military to buy guns in their home states and protection from lawsuits for all gun sellers whose sold weapons are used in crimes after a background check is completed.
The amendment would also create a commission to study why mass violence happens.
The office of U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta, R-11, Hazleton, said he has not decided whether to support the Toomey-Manchin proposal.
"I do not support any further erosion of Second Amendment rights," he said. "We should enforce the laws we already have on the books."
Efforts to reach Sen. Bob Casey and Reps. Tom Marino, R-10, Lycoming Twp., and Matt Cartwright, D-17, Moosic, were unsuccessful.
Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com