House Republicans urge caution on gun legislation

USA Today

Donovan Slack, and Paul Singer

© AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite In this photo taken Dec. 1, 2015, House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington.Talks on a massive, government-wide spending bill hit a snag Wednesday as Republicans pressed demands to…
WASHINGTON — House Republicans made it clear Thursday that they will not be moving quickly to bring up new gun control legislation in the wake of Wednesday's shootings in San Bernardino, Calif.
Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday there are still too many unknowns about the San Bernardino shootings, but the said one common theme among many mass shootings is mental illness, an issue he says Congress has already been working on with legislation.
"People with mental illness are getting guns and committing these mass shootings," Ryan said on CBS This Morning. Ryan made the same point earlier this week in reaction to the post-Thanksgiving shooting at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic.
The Wisconsin Republican said part of the discussion surrounding mental health legislation is who should and shouldn't have access to guns, but he signaled that barring gun purchases by people on no-fly terror lists — as President Obama urged Wednesday — is not an option.
Ryan said government officials put people on such lists without any due legal process and so denying those listed the right to bear arms would violate their rights.
"People have due process rights in this country," he said.
He said that if someone is suspected of plotting an attack, law enforcement officials should arrest them.
Ryan suggested there will be multiple issues Congress can address, whether it's finding gaps in enforcement or passing legislation. But he said there shouldn't be a rush to do either at the risk of "infringing upon the rights of law-abiding citizens."
"We just want to get it right," Ryan said.
Obama said Wednesday that Congress should, at a minimum, take up legislation that would bar anyone on the federal terrorist watch list from buying a gun. He told CBS News "some may be aware of the fact that we have a no-fly list where people can't get on planes but those same people who we don't allow to fly could go into a store right now in the United States and buy a firearm and there's nothing that we can do to stop them. That's a law that needs to be changed.”
But House Republicans have rejected several Democratic attempts to use a procedural motion to bring that legislation to the House floor this week..
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and a group of Democratic senators wrote to Ryan and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky last month urging them to bring the bill up for a vote, citing a Government Accountability Office report that "between February 2004 and December 2014, individuals on the federal terrorist watch list tried to buy or obtain a firearm or explosive license or permit at least 2,233 times."
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Thursday Democrats will try to add gun control amendments to a budget bill the Senate is considering. Reid said the proposals would focus on expanding background checks for gun purchases and prohibiting anyone who has threatened violence at an abortion clinic from obtaining a gun.
The bill they are trying to amend is a GOP measure intended to repeal portions of Obamacare and bar federal funding for Planned Parenthood - something Obama has said he will veto.
Reid said members of Congress have been "complicit through our inaction" on gun violence.
"For far too long we've done nothing, even as gun violence shakes our nation to its core," Reid said. "The American people are desperately looking for help, some help, any help."
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., created a Republican task force on homeland security in the wake of the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris, and said Thursday the no-fly list gun ban may be an issue that task force "will look at." McCarthy said the task force is intended to consider "any gaps or any vulnerabilities" in U.S. security, though he would not committee to any specific action.