Pa. Senators Casey and Toomey calling for gun legislation

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — Pennsylvania’s U.S. senators are reacting to the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, trying to find common ground to pass some kind of gun legislation.

It takes 60 votes in the U.S. Senate for legislation to pass. That means Democrats need 10 Republicans on their side, something that hasn’t happened in the 10 years the since Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.

Democratic Sen. Bob Casey says it’s a uniquely American problem to have the amount of mass shootings we do in the U.S.

“No other country that is similarly situated has an economy like ours as a country even close to what we have. No other country has this problem,” Casey said.

Casey blames Republicans for not acting, especially as a bill that passed the House last year to require background checks for every firearm sale hasn’t moved in the senate.

“You got 50 United States senators who are Republicans who have refused now for years to pass anything remotely resembling common-sense gun measures,” Casey said.

Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Pat Toomey wants another chance at the bill he came up with nearly 10 years ago with Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin to expand background checks to all commercial sales. They didn’t have the votes then, but Toomey is hoping to find them now.

“I think that something in that space of expanding background checks to capture those commercial sales that are not commonly captured is the place where we are most likely to have a chance of getting an outcome,” Toomey said.

As for discussions on red-flag legislation, laws that would allow police or family members to ask a court to remove guns from a person, Toomey says the concept is broadly appealing but the details are tough to hammer out.

“If we’re gonna get an outcome. We need something on both sides of the aisle. There’s an effort underway,” Toomey said.

“I would support a whole series of bills that we could talk about. We don’t have time today, but at least the United States Senate should be able to pass a background check bill supported by 90% of the American people,” Casey said.

Congress is expected to leave for its Memorial Day recess on Thursday afternoon, so any kind of vote may have to wait until it returns the week of June 6.