The 13 Republicans needed to pass gun-control legislation

[mystery-ak]

 The 13 Republicans needed to pass gun-control legislation
By Alexander Bolton - 09/15/19 06:00 AM EDT

If President Trump endorses gun-control legislation, it will take 13 Senate Republican votes to pass the measure, assuming the entire 47-member caucus of Democrats and Independents backs it.

Conservatives such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) say any proposal that goes as far as the 2013 amendment sponsored by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) will face a backlash from the right, meaning 60 votes will be necessary to break a filibuster.

The Manchin-Toomey proposal, which is basis of current Senate negotiations, would expand back to include all sales over the Internet and at gun shows but exempt sales between family, friends and coworkers.

Here are the 13 Republicans crucial to passing gun-control legislation:

more
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/461434-the-13-republicans-needed-to-pass-gun-control-legislation

[sneakypete]

Conservatives such as Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) say any proposal that goes as far as the 2013 amendment sponsored by Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) will face a backlash from the right, meaning 60 votes will be necessary to break a filibuster.

@mystery-ak

Teddy-Boy has his own gun control bill he is pushing. One of the AM Sunday teebee political shows had a clip of him promoting it.

[libertybele]

@mystery-ak

Teddy-Boy has his own gun control bill he is pushing. One of the AM Sunday teebee political shows had a clip of him promoting it.

Ok -- do you have a link or do you have the bill#??

[sneakypete]

Ok -- do you have a link or do you have the bill#??

@libertybele

No,but as a Cruz fan,I am sure you know all about it. Teddy Boy promoting it on teebee this morning was the first I heard of it.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Ok -- do you have a link or do you have the bill#?? 

@libertybele

Ted Cruz: Congress 'absolutely' needs to do more on gun safety
Washington Times, Sep 15, 2019

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz supported the push for stronger background check legislation after the recent string of deadly shootings over the summer, but warned that Democrats’ plans would lead to an erosion of the Second Amendment.

“We absolutely need to do more. We need to strengthen background checks,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.” “We’ve seen too damn many of these [shootings] in the state of Texas.”

Democrats passed a partisan background checks bill earlier this year that would extend to private sales. It hasn’t made any headway in the Republican-controlled Senate despite the recent push by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Mr. Cruz slammed that particular option, warning that requiring background checks on private sales would pave the way for gun confiscation.

“The only way to enforce that is a federal gun registry and a gun registry is the step you need for gun confiscation,” he said. “The federal government should not be confiscating guns from law-abiding citizens.” 

[...]

 
Mr. Cruz floated his 2013 bill with Sen. Chuck Grassley, which was reintroduced in May, as an alternative approach. The bill focuses on shoring up the National Instant Criminal Background Check System with stronger requirements for agencies.


https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/sep/15/ted-cruz-congress-absolutely-needs-do-more-gun-saf/

Sens. Grassley and Cruz roll out alternative gun control bill
The Hill, Apr 17, 2013

[...]

The bill would increase the resources available to prosecutors for violators of gun laws, and creates a “Cruz Task Force” to prosecute those who fail criminal background checks. The task force is funded through an Asset Forfeiture Fund.
 
The bill criminalizes straw purchasing and trafficking, measures Grassley supported in committee hearings on the gun control bill that will go before the Senate later this month. It also seeks to increase safety at schools, keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill, and increases accountability for prosecutions at the executive level by requiring the Department of Justice to submit reports to Congress.
 
The senators were particularly critical of the Obama administration’s record of prosecuting background check violations, saying it only took up a small portion of such cases.

The bill does not expand background checks, but rather “focuses on making the backgrounds system work better…by encouraging states to report mental health records,” Cruz said.

The National Rifle Association said it supports the bill.

More:  https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/294499-sens-grassley-and-cruz-present-alternative-gun-bill

[libertybele]

@libertybele

I looked up the bill -- posted above --- doesn't at all appear to be gun "control" in the sense that some are assuming but rather a proposal to curb gun violence and to get some funding for mental health.

[sneakypete]

I looked up the bill -- posted above --- doesn't at all appear to be gun "control" in the sense that some are assuming but rather a proposal to curb gun violence and to get some funding for mental health.

@libertybele

Everybody,including Cruz was calling it a gun control bill and not correcting the talking heads when they identified it that way. Maybe/probably Cruz was just being generic to establish a base for the clueless,but he's  not stupid and had to know how others would take it.

[corbe]

   I trust Sen. Cruz, a lifelong Conservative over President Trump, a lifelong liberal, on matters pertaining to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

[libertybele]

Here is the text of the bill:

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/s1519/text

[Fishrrman]

I would hope that we don't have 13 "Republican" Senators that stupid.

There are going to be defections (the usual suspects), but hopefully not ALL of them.

[libertybele]

   I trust Sen. Cruz, a lifelong Conservative over President Trump, a lifelong liberal, on matters pertaining to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Yes, absolutely, I trust Ted as well, especially on the Bill of Rights and specifically the 2A.  In the landmark case of District of Columbia v. Heller, Cruz drafted the amicus brief signed by the attorneys general of 31 states arguing that the Washington, D.C. handgun ban should be struck down as infringing upon the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. He also presented oral argument for the amici states in the companion case to Heller before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Senator Ted Cruz Debunks Lies About Heller Decision


www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDASlr4SNSk

U.S. Sen. Cruz on Heller, the Second Amendment
March 15, 2013
  | 
press@cruz.senate.gov

WASHINGTON, DC – Some media outlets have incorrectly characterized what U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) said at yesterday’s Judiciary Committee mark-up on guns. In particular, some commentators have attacked a straw-man, falsely claiming Cruz argued the Heller v. DC case did not allow any restrictions at all under the Second Amendment.

What Sen. Cruz said was directly to the contrary, as this hearing clip demonstrates:

Sen. Cruz said Heller makes clear that laws prohibiting weapons “in common use” for self-defense are unconstitutional. Thus, under Heller “dangerous and unusual” weapons—like fully automatic machine guns and sawed-off shotguns—can be restricted, but weapons like so-called “assault weapons” which are undoubtedly “in common use” (with over 4 million owned by Americans) cannot.

https://www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=183

Sen. Cruz Cosponsors the Protecting the Second Amendment Act
‘The right to bear arms is one of the most foundational and basic freedoms in our Constitution’
June 27, 2017
  | 


WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) announced his cosponsorship of the Protecting the Second Amendment Act, which was introduced by Sen. Luther Strange (R-Ala.). The bill would amend the Gun Control Act to nullify generalized, routine, or ongoing reporting requirements on lawful gun owners based on geographic location or sales records of multiple long guns, and prohibit future executive action against them.

Under an Obama-era executive order claiming to target the flow of firearms to Mexican drug cartels, gun owners and dealers in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas were unduly targeted and subjected to additional reporting requirements on firearms above .22 caliber.

“The right to bear arms is one of the most foundational and basic freedoms in our Constitution,” Sen. Cruz said. “I am therefore proud to cosponsor this bill which will roll back regulations that specifically and unfairly targeted Texas. I am grateful for the opportunity to reverse the previous administration’s misguided policies and champion Texans’ and Americans’ freedom to protect themselves and their families.”

Sen. Cruz has long been a champion for the Second Amendment and upholding Americans’ right to protect themselves and their families:

    Led the effort to prevent federal legislation to restrict the Second Amendment rights of Americans.
    Authored legislation to strengthen the Second Amendment rights of Americans by allowing interstate firearms sales.
    Led 31 states in District of Columbia v. Heller where the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a ban on firearms in a 5-4 landmark decision, and was later honored by the National Rifle Association with a 2008 resolution for his leadership in the case.
    Awarded the NRA’s 2010 Carter-Knight Freedom Fund award, which “rewards exemplary activities in the support and protection of the right to Keep and Bear Arms” for his work in the Heller and McDonald cases.

https://www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=3206

[Bigun]

@libertybele

Everybody,including Cruz was calling it a gun control bill and not correcting the talking heads when they identified it that way. Maybe/probably Cruz was just being generic to establish a base for the clueless,but he's  not stupid and had to know how others would take it.

The media says set your hair on fire and a great many jump to it!

[Applewood]

Alas, Senator Toomey from my home state of PA is one of the 13.  Remember that he and Joe Manchin pushed a so-called bipartisan, common sense gun control bill a few years ago that mercifully died on the vine.  Ever since then, Toomey has been making noises about renewing his efforts to get some type of gun control legislation passed. 

It's too bad because Toomey has taken conservative stances on some issues, such as fiscal responsibility, and I like him in that regard.  But if he and his liberal colleagues succeed in getting gun control or gun confiscation passed, he will have lost my vote next time he runs.