In Response to the Uvalde Massacre, Politicians Reiterate Their Demands for Irrelevant Gun Control Laws

Hours after Tuesday's horrifying massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D–N.Y.) indicated that he favored an immediate vote on legislation that would expand the background-check requirement for gun buyers to cover private transactions as well as sales by federally licensed dealers. Today he seemed to have second thoughts about that plan, which never made much sense to begin with.

Noting that some of his Democratic colleagues wanted to "quickly vote on sensible gun safety legislation," Schumer said: "I'm sympathetic to that, and I believe that accountability votes are important. But sadly, this isn't a case of the American people not knowing where their senators stand. They know. They know because my Republican colleagues are perfectly clear on this—crystal clear. Republicans don't pretend that they support sensible gun safety legislation. They don't pretend to be moved by the fact that 90 percent of Americans, regardless of party, support something as common sense as background checks."