Toomey is working with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., on added background checks.
As Senate Democrats approach a key decision on gun legislation, relatives of victims of the horrendous Connecticut school shootings are mounting a face-to-face lobbying effort today in hopes of turning around enough lawmakers to gain a Senate floor vote on meaningful gun restrictions.
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa, a former Lehigh Valley congressman, and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. have been given to the end of the day to reach a deal which would add more background checks.
Republicans are threatening to filibuster even the discussion of gun control.
The efforts of the Newtown familes follow President Barack Obama’s remarks in Hartford on gun control, an issue catapulted into the national arena by December’s gruesome slaying of 20 first-graders and six educators in Newtown, Conn.
“If you want the people you send to Washington to have just an iota of the courage that the educators at Sandy Hook showed when danger arrived on their doorstep, then we’re all going to have to stand up,” the president said.
Obama’s proposals — headlined by background checks for more gun buyers and bans on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines — have hit opposition from the National Rifle Association and are struggling in Congress. Conservatives say they will use procedural tactics to try preventing the Senate from even debating firearms restrictions.
Newtown families head to Washington, D.C.
Underscoring the high emotional stakes, some Newtown families are in the Capitol lobbying senators to support gun restrictions, including 11 relatives Obama on Monday ferried back to Washington, D.C., aboard Air Force One after his speech.
The administration was continuing its efforts to pressure Republicans, with Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder making remarks today at the White House, joined by law enforcement officials.
Senate Democrats, meanwhile, are approaching decision time on whether they should try to get Republican support for expanding background checks for firearms sales or will follow the shakier path of pursuing the cornerstone of Obama’s gun control effort on their own.
Democrats were holding a lunchtime meeting today to assess whether Manchin had reached an acceptable compromise — or had a realistic chance of getting one — with Toomey. Party leaders were giving Manchin until later today to complete the talks, and a decision by Democrats seemed likely in the next couple of days.
Toomey's spokeswoman said the senator did not have an immediate comment on the negotiations.
An agreement between the two senators, both among the more conservative members of their parties, would boost efforts to expand background checks because it could attract bipartisan support. Abandoning those negotiations would put Democrats in a difficult position, making it hard for them to push a measure through the Senate and severely damaging Obama’s gun control drive.
13 conservatives deliver letter to Harry Reid
In a preview of the Senate’s debate, 13 conservative Republicans delivered a letter Monday to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. They promised to try blocking lawmakers from beginning to consider the measure, a procedural move that takes 60 votes to curtail, a difficult hurdle in the 100-member chamber.
The conservatives, who included Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said the Democratic effort would violate the Second Amendment right to bear arms, citing “history’s lesson that government cannot be in all places at all times, and history’s warning about the oppression of a government that tries.”
“Shame on them,” Reid responded as he brought Democratic gun legislation to the Senate floor, though debate did not formally begin.
“The least Republicans owe the parents of those 20 little babies who were murdered at Sandy Hook is a thoughtful debate about whether stronger laws could have saved their little girls and boys,” Reid said.
Georgia senator favors 'up or down' vote
Georgia’s Sen. Johnny Isakson, a conservative Republican, said today on “CBS This Morning” that “the issue on background checks is how far they go and whether they violate rights of privacy.” But he also said he believes the issue “deserves a vote up or down” in the Senate.
Reid could try beginning Senate debate on legislation that has already been approved by the Judiciary Committee. It would extend the background check requirement to nearly all gun purchases, strengthen laws against illegal firearms purchases and modestly boost aid for school safety.
If Reid does that, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., will join conservatives’ efforts to prevent the measure from being debated, McConnell spokesman Don Stewart said.