Democrats fail to force vote on bill establishing select panel on gun violence

By Ed O'Keefe November 7 at 6:28 PM

Two days after a mass shooting at a Texas church, Democratic lawmakers failed Tuesday to force a vote on legislation establishing a select committee on preventing gun violence.

The proposal is among more than 30 pieces of legislation introduced by Democrats this year to combat gun violence and bolster federal funding to research and assist people with mental illness and the effects of gun violence. Of those bills, just four have Republican sponsors, according to a document compiled by Democratic aides and shared with The Washington Post.

The measure that Democrats failed to advance Tuesday was introduced by Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), who leads a Democratic working group on gun violence established after the 2012 mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school. The bill would establish a 12-member committee divided evenly between Republicans and Democrats to study the causes of mass shootings, look at ways to revamp the gun background-check system, research how mentally ill people obtain firearms and explore ways to keep domestic abusers from buying firearms.

“You know how many special committees they’ve created to chase Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama around that don’t have any bearing on saving lives of the people we represent?” Thompson said in an interview Monday, referring to Republicans. “A select committee can determine how we can take steps to enhance gun-violence prevention, but they won’t even do that.”

Thompson’s bill is sponsored by 158 other Democrats and no Republicans.

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