Sen. Sherrod Brown says he believes there’s finally been a shift in the gun control debate.
He points to more citizens speaking out on the issue, and also cites the recent publicity about which members of Congress are taking money from gun lobbyists and how much they’re getting.
“Members of Congress who have done the bidding of the NRA for their whole careers and the gun lobby their whole careers are feeling under a lot of pressure, and that’s a good thing,” Sherrod says.
The NRA has spent about a million dollars to campaign against Brown.
President Trump has met with a bipartisan group of Congress members to discuss school safety and gun reforms. According to NPR, Trump "appeared to throw his support behind a number of conflicting measures, including some that are opposed by the powerful gun lobby."
Brown says the next steps should involve raising the age to buy guns to 21, banning assault weapons, keeping people on the terrorist watch list from buying guns, and implementing more complete background checks.
“I don’t know what Congress is going to do,” Brown says. “I don’t know what Republican leadership is going to do, but we ought to have a full debate. People ought to be able to offer amendments, and we should see what we can do on gun safety rules.”
Brown also calls Trump’s proposal to arm teachers ridiculous.
Brown’s Senate colleague, Republican Rob Portman, has offered some support for modest gun control regulations. Portman says he supports expanding gun background checks, as well as limits on bump stocks.
Portman has received $3,061,941 in campaign contributions from the NRA and other gun-rights groups, the eighth most among sitting Congress members.
