A Senate measure to expand background checks would seem headed for quick passage following the recent string of mass shootings and President Trump’s interest in the bill.
But decades of partisan fighting over gun control in Congress, coupled with the elevated political stakes in a looming election years, it is more likely headed for the legislative graveyard.
Sens. Pat Toomey, a Republican from Pennsylvania, and Joe Manchin, a Democrat from West Virginia, are lead sponsors of a bill to expand background checks to include gun show and internet sales.
President Trump signaled his interest in a background check measure, telling reporters last week, “There’s an appetite, and I mean a very strong appetite, for background checks.”