NRA: The powerful US gun rights lobby

Yahoo – AFP, Joshua MELVIN, May 27, 2022

People look at semi-automatic guns at the Kalashnikov booth at the NRA's
annual convention in Houston (AFP/STRINGER) (STRINGER)

The National Rifle Association is the central and fiercest promoter of gun rights in America, and is again holding its annual convention days after a mass school shooting. 

Just like the NRA's meeting after the 1999 Columbine attack, which defined an era of gun massacres in America's schools, the gathering opening Friday in Houston follows the killing of 19 children and two teachers in a Texas classroom. 

The NRA has been weakened by scandal and turmoil, but remains the main force dedicated to advocating for the owners of the tens of millions of weapons that are readily obtainable across the country. 

Here are some key points about the organization: 

Potent political force 

The 150-year-old NRA concentrated its focus on battling gun restrictions in the late 1970s and has become one of the most powerful lobbying groups in US history. 

Its past influence on lawmakers has been far-reaching. 

From 2000 to 2012, the NRA and its allies in the firearms industry combined to pour $80 million into US House of Representatives, Senate and presidential races, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics. 

In the 2016 presidential election, the NRA spent about $20 million for ads attacking Democrat Hillary Clinton and another $10 million for ads supporting Republican Donald Trump. 

Since the 1990s, the NRA has been able to deliver a powerful punch against local and national politicians it views as a threat to gun rights, contributing to the defeat of numerous centrist candidates. 

Many guns, many deaths 

The NRA has been a key proponent for an industry that has produced more than 139 million guns for the commercial market over the two decades from 2000, including 11.3 million in 2020 alone, according to government data. 

At the same time, America annually records a toll of tens of thousands of gun deaths, with US authorities saying killings underwent an "historic" increase in 2020. 

The US racked up 19,350 firearm homicides in 2020, up nearly 35 percent over 2019, and 24,245 gun suicides, up 1.5 percent. 

The post-Columbine era 

In the April 20, 1999 shooting at Columbine high school in Littleton, Colorado, two students killed 12 of their classmates and a teacher, and signaled a new era of classroom killings in America. 

The NRA's annual conference was scheduled to open less than two weeks later in Denver, a short drive from Littleton, prompting state and local politicians to criticize the planned meeting. 

In the end, the NRA went ahead with a scaled-down gathering but voiced a defiant tone defending gun rights. 

"Over the next two decades, this unapologetic message would come to define the NRA's tone in the wake of mass shootings at American schools," US broadcaster NPR wrote, after publishing recordings it said captured the group's debate over the response to Columbine. 

A troubled NRA 

The state of New York sued the group and its leader Wayne LaPierre in 2020 for financial fraud and misconduct, aiming to dissolve the powerful lobby. 

Top NRA officials were accused of using dues and donations of members for years as a "personal piggy bank," spending tens of millions of dollars on themselves and their cronies in violation of laws governing non-profit organizations. 

The group called it a baseless political attack, and in March a New York judge ruled that alleged self-dealing by the group's leader, if proven, would not warrant such a strong penalty as the disbanding of the association. 

New York's lawsuit seeking to boot LaPierre from his post will, however, be allowed to proceed. 

Group in decline? 

NRA claims more than five million members, but there are signs that figure is on the wane, including a 2021 legal deposition from LaPierre in which he said numbers were "under 4.9 million." 

US network CBS reported NRA's revenue declined 23 percent from roughly $367 million in 2016 to $282 million in 2020, the most recent year for which its tax filings are available. 

It added that contributions and grants from members and corporations also have slipped 15 percent during that time. 

Yet after an 18-year-old man opened fire this week at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, the group spoke up as the voice explaining why yet another mass shooting had happened. 

"We recognize this was the act of a lone, deranged criminal," their statement said. "As we gather in Houston, we will reflect on these events... and pledge to redouble our commitment to making our schools secure."

US judge dismisses NRA bankruptcy petition in blow to gun group

Yahoo – AFP, May 11, 2021

NRA leader Wayne LaPierre seen in Indianapolis, Indiana on April 26, 2019

A US judge rejected Tuesday a bankruptcy attempt by the National Rifle Association, ruling that the gun lobby group filed the petition to dodge a corruption probe in New York. 

The verdict is a victory for the New York investigation, which seeks to dissolve the powerful conservative organization. 

"The Court finds that the NRA did not file the bankruptcy petition in good faith because this filing was not for a purpose intended or sanctioned by the bankruptcy code," Judge Harlin Hale wrote. 

The verdict deals a blow to the NRA, which for decades has been able to shape major political races by endorsing pro-gun candidates. 

"Although we are disappointed in some aspects of the decision, there is no change in the overall direction of our Association, its programs or its Second Amendment advocacy," the NRA said in a statement. 

The NRA announced in January that it was filing for bankruptcy protection from creditors and moving its headquarters from New York to Texas. 

The organization and one of its subsidiaries filed petitions for so-called Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a Dallas court. 

The NRA said its decision to reincorporate its non-profit status in Texas would ensure that in the future it is "free from the toxic political environment in New York." 

New York state announced in August of last year that it was suing the NRA and its leader Wayne LaPierre for financial fraud and misconduct, aiming to dissolve the organization. 

State Attorney General Letitia James said LaPierre and three other top NRA officials had used the dues and donations of members for years as their "personal piggy bank." 

They spent tens of millions of dollars on themselves and cronies in violation of laws governing non-profit organizations, according to Letitia's office. 

James, a Democrat, denied she was acting on political motives. 

"The @NRA does not get to dictate if and where it will answer for its actions, and our case will continue in New York court," James tweeted following Tuesday's ruling.

NRA chief draws fire for clumsy elephant hunt

MSN – AFP, 28 April 2021 

National Rifle Association chief Wayne LaPierre. (JOE RAEDLE)

Already facing legal problems, Wayne LaPierre, the head of the US National Rifle Association, is now facing ridicule for clumsily hunting an elephant in Botswana. 

Wayne LaPierre holding a sign: National Rifle Association chief Wayne LaPierre© JOE RAEDLE National Rifle Association chief Wayne LaPierre

Video of the 2013 hunt was published by The New Yorker and The Trace. 

It was taken for an NRA documentary but was never aired, The New Yorker said, "because of concerns that it could turn into a public-relations fiasco." 

In the video, LaPierre wounds an elephant with his first shot. 

He then shoots it three more times at point-blank range but hits it in the wrong place. 

A hunting guide finally fires the shot that dispatches the elephant. 

The footage also shows LaPierre's wife, Susan, killing an elephant, cutting off its tail and shouting "Victory!" 

Shannon Watts, founder of the gun control group Moms Demand Action, tweeted about the video. 

"CEO Wayne LaPierre manages to alienate both hunters and gun owners because not only is this inhumane, but he's a horrible shot," Watts said. 

Tanya Sanerib, international legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said it was "sickening to see LaPierre's brutal, clumsy slaughter of this beautiful creature. 

"No animal should suffer like this," Sanerib said in a statement. 

"Savannah elephants were just declared endangered by international experts, and these intelligent beings certainly shouldn't be used as paper targets by an inept marksman." 

The NRA filed for bankruptcy in Texas in January of this year after being sued by the New York state attorney general, who accused its leaders of misusing funds.

Canada bans assault weapons in wake of worst-ever mass shooting

Yahoo – AFP, May 1, 2020

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has ordered a sweeping ban on many
assault weapons after a deadly mass shooting (AFP Photo/Dave Chan)

Ottawa (AFP) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday announced an immediate ban on military-grade assault weapons, responding to a mass shooting and arson spree that left 22 people dead earlier this month.

"These weapons were designed for one purpose, and one purpose only: to kill the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time," Trudeau told a news briefing.

He said his government has approved a decree banning the sale, purchase, use, transport and import of 1,500 models of military-grade assault weapons and variants of them.

"There is no use, and no place for such weapons in Canada," Trudeau said.

The killing spree, the worst in Canadian history, began on the night of April 18 in Nova Scotia and led to a 13-hour manhunt for the shooter, who was eventually shot dead by police.

Authorities have said the assailant -- identified as 51-year-old denturist Gabriel Wortman -- was wearing a police uniform, driving a mock police car, and had several guns with him including at least one assault-style weapon.

Trudeau said there will be a two-year amnesty for people who currently own assault-style weapons to protect them from liability, and parliament will eventually pass legislation to compensate them for turning in their guns.

"For many families, including indigenous people, firearms are part of traditions passed down through generations, and the vast majority of gun owners use them safely, responsibly, and in accordance with the law, whether it be for work, sports shooting for collecting or for hunting," Trudeau said.

"But you don't need an AR-15 to bring down a deer," he added.

Mass shootings are less common in Canada than in the US "but the heartbreaking truth is, they're happening more often than they once did," the prime minister said.

He mentioned for instance a shooting at a mosque in Quebec City in 2017 that left six dead and 19 wounded.

Trudeau made banning assault weapons part of his campaign for elections that brought him to power in 2015. He repeated it in the campaign for the October 2019 elections in which he won another term.

Nearly four of five Canadians back such a ban, according to an Angus Reid poll released Friday.

Aid group calls on pension funds to ditch dubious arms investments

DutchNews, November 28, 2019

Photo: zeferli@gmail.com via Depositphotos.com

Nine of the biggest Dutch pension funds are investing in companies which supply weapons to regimes that violate human rights, according to research by Dutch aid group Pax

Pax says the funds invest more than €1bn in dubious weapons manufacturers, with civil service giant ABP plus health fund PFZW and engineering fund PME accounting for €927m of the total. 

The findings come from a new study by the Fair Pension Guide. 

‘Some of most Dutch people’s retirement money is invested in arms companies that, for instance, keep Saudi Arabia’s jet fighters in the air,’ PAX spokesman Cor Oudes said in a statement. ‘These planes drop bombs that kill and maim civilians in Yemen.’ 

The study looks at the largest companies supplying weapons to around 50 countries either currently involved in an armed conflict or which violate human rights. 

Aircraft engines 

Of the 14 companies supplying weapons to countries with poor human rights records, United Technologies Corporation and General Electric have the most Dutch pension fund investment. 

Both companies provide and maintain aircraft engines for the air forces of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Pax says. 

The organisation says pension funds should develop good arms trade policies and urges funds to encourage these arms manufacturers to stop selling arms to dubious regimes. 

‘If the manufacturers fail to take action, pension funds should exclude these companies from their investments,’ Pax said. 

Last year, civil service pension fund ABP, one of the biggest pension funds in world, said it is phasing out all investments in tobacco and nuclear weapons.

Nearly 150 US business chiefs press Congress for action on guns

Yahoo – AFP, September 12, 2019

Protestors take part in a rally against gun violence calling for background
checks on gun sales in August 2019 (AFP Photo/Johannes EISELE)

Washington (AFP) - Leaders of 145 top US corporations have called for passage of a law requiring background checks on all gun sales and allowing courts to take guns from "extreme risk" individuals.

The CEOs laid out their concerns in a letter Wednesday to leaders of the US Senate, publicly taking sides on a highly charged issue in the wake of last month's mass shootings in Texas and Ohio.

"Doing nothing about America's gun violence crisis is simply unacceptable and it is time to stand with the American public on gun safety," they wrote.

The letter, which was published by The New York Times, was signed by the chiefs of businesses including Levi Strauss, Uber, Twitter, Bloomberg and Airbnb.

Noticeably absent, however, were some of the biggest US financial and tech companies, including JPMorgan, Google and Facebook.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he will only bring a gun bill to the floor if it has presidential backing, but Trump has given no clear preference.

Noting that 100 Americans are shot and killed every day, the CEOs called the situation a "public health crisis that demands urgent action."

They argued that gun violence is preventable and "there are steps Congress can, and must, take to prevent and reduce gun violence."

"That's why we urge the Senate to stand with the American public and take action on gun safety by passing a bill to require background checks on all gun sales and a strong Red Flag law that would allow courts to issue life-saving extreme risk protection orders," it said.

Such a bill has passed the House of Representatives but remains stalled in the Senate.

The gun control debate reignited after the massacre of 22 people at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas August 3, followed a day later by the killings of nine more by a gunman in Dayton, Ohio.

The month closed with a shooting rampage in Odessa, Texas that left another seven people dead.

US stores ask customers not to openly carry guns

Yahoo – AFP, September 6, 2019

CVS has asked customers who are not law enforcement personnel not to
bring guns into its stores (AFP Photo/Alastair Pike)

Washington (AFP) - US pharmacies CVS and Walgreens and supermarket chain Wegmans on Thursday asked customers not to openly carry firearms in their stores, or not to bring them in at all.

The calls by the stores -- which follows a similar move by Kroger, the country's biggest supermarket chain -- come as the United States grapples with an epidemic of gun violence and frequent mass shootings.

CVS said on Twitter that it supports "the efforts of individuals and groups working to prevent gun violence," and requested that customers who are not law enforcement personnel refrain from bringing firearms into its stores.

Walgreens meanwhile only asked that customers not openly carry guns, providing no explanation for its decision in a brief statement on its website.

Wegmans also requested that customers refrain from openly carrying firearms, tweeting: "The sight of someone with a gun can be alarming, and we don't want anyone to feel that way at Wegmans."

Retail giant Walmart announced on Tuesday that it would halt the sale of ammunition for handguns and some military-style rifles, calling the status quo on firearms in the United States "unacceptable."

That announcement came a month after a deadly shooting at one of the chain's stores in El Paso, Texas, that claimed 22 lives.

Related Article:

Walmart to limit ammunition sales after mass shooting in Texas store

Walmart to limit ammunition sales after mass shooting in Texas store

Yahoo – AFP, John BIERS, September 4, 2019

A memorial near the El Paso, Texas Walmart where 22 people were killed in
August during a mass shooting (AFP Photo/Mark RALSTON)

New York (AFP) - Walmart will halt sales of ammunition for handguns and some military-style rifles, the company announced Tuesday, calling the status quo on firearms in the United States "unacceptable."

Walmart also said it will direct consumers not to carry firearms into its stores, a practice that is legal in "open carry" states but which has sparked safety scares in recent weeks.

The moves, which were praised by gun control advocates and ridiculed by gun rights supporters, came a month after a deadly shooting at an El Paso, Texas store claimed 22 lives, a calamity that has been followed by subsequent attacks, including another shooting over the weekend in West Texas that left seven dead.

Chief Executive Doug McMillon called on Congress and the White House to enact "common sense" measures, including stronger background checks for gun purchases, while signaling the retail giant still plans to sell sporting rifles.

"As we've seen before, these horrific events occur and then the spotlight fades. We should not allow that to happen," McMillon said in a statement.

"Congress and the administration should act."

The actions stop well short of the outright ban on gun sales that some gun control advocates called for but are still significant given Walmart's size and prominence in many communities in the United States and its influence in corporate America.

Later Tuesday, Kroger, the biggest US supermarket chain, called for strengthened background checks and announced it was "respectfully asking that customers no longer openly carry firearms into our stores, other than authorized law enforcement officers."

Boycott?

The world's biggest retailer, Arkansas-based Walmart has more than 4,700 stores across America, many in conservative regions where political opposition to gun control is strong.

The hashtag #boycottwalmart was trending Tuesday afternoon on Twitter and the move drew a strident response from the National Rifle Association.

"It is shameful to see Walmart succumb to the pressure of the anti-gun elites," the NRA said. "Lines at Walmart will soon be replaced by lines at other retailers who are more supportive of America's fundamental freedoms."

Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Walmart Inc. Corporation, announced the 

retail giant would end sales of some ammunition after a deadly shooting last 

month at a Texas store (AFP Photo/MARK WILSON)

On the other side, Everytown for Gun Safety praised Walmart for a "significant step forward."

Several Democratic presidential candidates also praised Walmart, while calling for more action, drawing further distinction from US President Donald Trump who has backed off efforts to tighten background checks.

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke, who previously represented El Paso in Congress, called Walmart's move a "step in the right direction," adding, "we can't rely on corporations to stop gun violence. We need universal background checks, we need red flag laws, and we need to buy back every single assault weapon."

Walmart expects the changes to lower its market share for ammunition from around 20 percent to a range of six to nine percent.

The company will also no longer sell ammunition for short-barrel rifles, which can be used for hunting but also in military-style weapons.

The company will still sell long-barrel deer rifles and shotguns and much of the ammunition they use, leaving its stores "even more focused on the needs of hunting and sport shooting enthusiasts," McMillon said.

No more 'open carry'

Walmart also unveiled new policies restricting firearms in stores, citing a number of incidents in which shoppers have fled stores after members of the public brandished such weapons in "open carry" states.

In one well-publicized incident last month just days after the El Paso shooting, a man in Missouri was arrested after entering a Walmart wearing body armor and carrying a loaded military-style rifle.

"We believe the opportunity for someone to misinterpret a situation, even in open carry states, could lead to tragic results," McMillon said. "We hope that everyone will understand the circumstances that led to this new policy and will respect the concerns of their fellow shoppers and our associates."

The moves announced Tuesday followed earlier actions by Walmart to restrict access to some weapons, including a decision in 1993 to halt handgun sales in all states but Alaska and in 2015 to end sales of semiautomatic weapons of the sort used in mass shootings.

On Tuesday, Walmart said it was also ending sales of handguns in Alaska.

McMillon noted he is a gun owner himself, adding "we understand that heritage, our deeply rooted place in America and our influence as the world's largest retailer. And we understand the responsibility that comes with it."

Shrugging off Trump, FBI tackles right-wing extremists

Yahoo – AFP, Paul HANDLEY, August 25, 2019

Guns, ammunition and tactical gear seized by police near Los Angeles after
arresting a man who threatened a mass shooting (AFP Photo/Handout)

Guns, ammunition and tactical gear seized by police near Los Angeles after arresting a man who threatened a mass shooting (AFP Photo/Handout)

Washington (AFP) - One man had three assault rifles, extra-large magazines and a gas mask. Another had over 18 weapons, including sawed-off shotguns, AR-15s, and a grenade launcher.

Earlier this year, the two might not have drawn the attention of US law enforcement.

But ever since a young racist slaughtered 22 at a Texas Walmart, and another man murdered 10 in Ohio three weekends ago, the FBI has arrested at least seven right-wing extremists in what appears to be a more earnest effort to target white nationalist threats in the United States.

Vaults of guns, crates of ammunition

These are some examples of the deeply disturbing cases.

On August 8, a 23-year-old Las Vegas security guard who communicated with neo-Nazis was arrested with bomb-making materials and indications he might target a synagogue or gay nightclub.

A week later, a Connecticut man, 22, was detained after suggesting online that he would carry out a mass shooting. At his home, investigators found multiple hand and long guns, camouflage outfits, titanium body armor and a combat helmet.

On August 12, an 18-year-old who voiced support for mass shootings was indicted for threatening to kill law enforcement officers. At his home, he had a vault full of weapons and 10,000 rounds of ammunition.

Four days after that, Florida police arrested a 25-year-old man who texted his girlfriend that he was planning a mass shooting and envisioned "100 good kills."

Members and supporters of the National Socialist Movement, one of the largest 

neo-Nazi groups in the US, hold a rally on April 21, 2018 in Newnan, Georgia

(AFP Photo/SPENCER PLATT)

On August 17, a 20-year-old white nationalist was arrested in Ohio for threatening a Jewish community center. At his home, he had amassed multiple semi-automatic assault rifles, high-capacity magazines, and a gas mask.

And this week, police in Long Beach, California, arrested a man for making a mass shooting threat, and found at his home several illegal assault rifles, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and high-capacity magazines.

FBI waking up

The arrests brought to light the extent of the threat of extremist ideology on the right, and its ability to motivate uniformly young, white men into acting on their hate.

They also, analysts said, mark a change after US justice authorities have been accused for years of doing little about domestic terrorism, which has now killed more Americans since 2002 than Islamist extremism.

"I think that federal law enforcement understand that this is at the highest level of concern," said Brian Levin, head of the Study for Hate and Extremism at California State University-San Bernardino.

"They are certainly devoting a decent amount of investigative resources."

President Donald Trump has been criticized for not roundly condemning white nationalists and neo-Nazis in the wake of several shootings and violent incidents, in particular after a deadly neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017.

Analysts say that reticence left the FBI not fully invested in confronting the threat.

Mass shootings like the one at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas have forced US law 

enforcement to reckon with a broad threat from white nationalist extremists

(AFP Photo/Mark RALSTON)

A NBC-Wall Street Journal poll conducted earlier this month and released Sunday showed that 56 percent of those surveyed believe that race relations in the US have gotten worse since Trump's election.

The FBI feels held back from opening investigations by Trump's refusal to criticize people he considers part of his loyal voter base, former FBI terrorism supervisor Dave Gomez told The Washington Post.

"It's a no-win situation for the FBI agent and his supervisor."

850 domestic terror probes

But the agency has now clearly recognized the priority.

FBI Director Christopher Wray said in July that they have 850 open "domestic terror" investigations and have made 100 arrests so far. The majority of those cases, he said, are "what you might call white supremacist violence."

But Wray also stressed that they were targeting crimes rather than an ideology -- a sharply different approach than that for Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda sympathizers, who can be arrested for expressing support for outlawed jihadists.

Wray's predecessor Andrew McCabe said Friday that the agency is overcoming that wariness, even if it could mean encroachments on civil liberties.

"I think the FBI appears to be refocusing, and augmenting their efforts on the domestic terrorist threat," McCabe told CNN.

Now there is "a much higher degree of sensitivity... to the statements which are now seen as predictors of potentially mass shootings," he said.

Levin said the arrests also show that, after the shock of recent mass shootings, the US public is more attuned to the ideological threat and ready to report any hints by perpetrators of their radical ideologies.

"I think that has created a familiarity among the public with what certain warning signs are," he said.

Amsterdam judges get tough on violent crime, impose higher sentences

DutchNews, August 10, 2019 

Amsterdam judges have reached an agreement to impose higher sentences on people found guilty of weapons offences, the AD said on Saturday. 

The aim, the paper said, is to make a statement following a spate of violent incidents in the Dutch capital. 

‘There have been a lot of stabbings and killings in the city and people are more willing to use hand grenades,’ spokesman Domien Huijbregts told the paper. ‘That is why we want to give a clear signal. This is completely unacceptable.’ 

Sentences for gun, knife or grenade crime in the Dutch capital can be four times as high as in other parts of country, the paper said. This means someone caught with a pistol would be jailed for 12 months, while the recommended sentence is three months. 

‘Amsterdam judges are able to go their own way in this,’ a spokesman for the Council for the Judiciary told the AD. ‘They are completely independent.’

Trump says Republicans ready to impose gun background checks

Yahoo – AFP, Sebastian Smith, August 9, 2019

US President Donald Trump says he has spoken to leader of the National Rifle
Association and their views should be fully represented in the debate over gun
control (AFP Photo/MANDEL NGAN)

Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump said Friday that fellow Republicans will set aside resistance to restricting access to firearms by supporting background checks for people buying weapons in the wake of mass shootings in Ohio and Texas.

The progress in efforts to curb the United States' freewheeling relationship with firearms came despite talks between Trump and the head of the fierce NRA gun lobby, Wayne LaPierre.

Republicans have long resisted imposing background checks on gun buyers, a measure that the powerful NRA argues would be the thin end of the wedge, leading to ever tighter restrictions on the constitutional right to carrying weapons.

But after 31 people were shot dead in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, last weekend -- just the latest in an ever growing list of bloodbaths carried out by men with powerful rifles -- political momentum has apparently shifted.

Trump said that Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was "totally onboard" with background checks.

Even "hardline" gun rights supporters in the Republican party "understand we don't want insane people, mentally ill people, bad people, dangerous people" buying firearms, Trump told reporters at the White House.

He said he'd spoken with LaPierre and had "a good talk."

But despite describing the NRA as "phenomenal people" and insisting that no other president has been more supportive of gun rights, Trump said "we need meaningful background checks so that sick people don't get guns."

LaPierre on Thursday had rejected calls for tougher restrictions on firearms, indicating he'd raised those concerns with Trump.

US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says gun control legislation will be 

"front and center" in the next session but he will not recall senators from their 

summer break (AFP Photo/NICHOLAS KAMM)

"The inconvenient truth is this: the proposals being discussed by many would not have prevented the horrific tragedies in El Paso and Dayton," LaPierre said in a statement.

No recall of Congress

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged Trump to bring the Senate into session to debate gun control legislation previously approved by House Democratic lawmakers, including a bill passed in February mandating federal criminal background checks.

"Commonsense background checks are supported by more than 90 percent of the American people and are proven to save lives," Pelosi wrote Thursday in a letter to the president.

Backed by than 200 US mayors who wrote to McConnell to demand that the Senate reconvene, Pelosi evoked "an extraordinary moment in our history (that) requires all of us to take extraordinary action."

But despite the apparent shift in White House and Republican positions on the issue, Trump and Senate leaders said there's no need to call legislators back from their summer break.

"I think we'll have a very good package by the time they come back," Trump said.

Trump and the Republicans also seem certain to oppose Democrats' call for banning assault weapons -- the military style rifles commonly used in mass killings.

Gun lobbyists argue that rifles like the AR-15 are hugely popular, legitimate weapons for hunting and self-defense.

McConnell has previously stifled congressional efforts to expand gun controls amid Republicans' fears that they could suffer at ballot box in next year's elections.

The El Paso and Dayton shooters used semi-automatic weapons, which can be legally bought in most US states, to mow down large numbers of people in minutes or even seconds.

Related Article:

US mayors demand gun control action

US mayors demand gun control action

Yahoo – AFP, August 8, 2019

Under pressure: US mayors demand Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell
recall the Senate from vacation to pass tough gun control legislation already
approved in the Democrat-led House of Represenatives (AFP Photo/WIN MCNAMEE)

Washington (AFP) - Over 200 US mayors demanded Thursday that the US Senate return from its summer break and immediately pass gun control legislation, after mass shootings in two major cities left 31 dead.

They wrote to the Senate's Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and top Democrat Chuck Schumer demanding the chamber approve bills passed by the lower House requiring background checks for all gun purchases and regulation of secondary sales.

"Already in 2019, there have been over 250 mass shootings," said the 214 members of the influential US Conference of Mayors, including Dee Margo of El Paso, Texas and Nan Whaley of Dayton, Ohio -- the two cities where 31 people were gunned down at the weekend.

The call will add to the mounting pressure on McConnell, who has stifled congressional efforts to expand gun controls amid Republicans' fears that they could suffer at the ballot box in next year's elections.

"The tragic events in El Paso and Dayton this weekend are just the latest reminders that our nation can no longer wait for our federal government to take the actions necessary to prevent people who should not have access to firearms from being able to purchase them," the letter said.

The conference's president, Bryan Barnett, described his members as being "on the frontlines" of an epidemic that cannot wait for a federal government solution.

Activists in Louisville, Kentucky demonstrate for action on gun control outside the 

office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday following dealy 

shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio (AFP Photo/LUKE SHARRETT)

"Keeping our cities safe is not a partisan issue," said Barnett, the mayor of Rochester Hills, Michigan.

The letter pointed to two background check bills passed by the Democrat-controlled House in February that McConnell has essentially blocked from consideration in the Republican-controlled Senate.

If one of the two bills had been law in 2015, the mayors' letter said, "the terrible tragedy that occurred at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston might have been avoided."

On June 17, 2015 white supremacist Dylann Roof murdered nine African-Americans in a church in Charleston, South Carolina.

Despite a criminal background Roof was able to buy the handgun he used in the shooting.

On Wednesday President Donald Trump said he supported proposed legislation in the Senate that would block gun sales to people with mental health issues.

But Trump said he did not think there was political support for tougher legislation, like that passed already by the House, or bans on highly lethal assault rifles used in many mass shootings.