The Trace Reports  by Tom Reynolds

The Trace is a left leaning organization originally funded by gun control groups.  It’s a good source to get a feeling about what the gun control lobby will do with the new Congress.

The Trace reports the gun control lobby outspent gun rights groups in the midterm election by nearly 20 to 1.  The gun control lobby had “nearly $42 million in federal independent expenditures, compared with just $2.65 million by gun rights groups.”

Of the 15 races where gun control groups reported at least $100,000 in independent expenditures, Democrats won 13 and are leading in one more. One of the losses for the gun control lobby was Florida, where gun reform group Giffords reported spending $857,000 trying to oust Republican Representative Anna Paulina Luna.  Luna defended her House District 13 seat for a third term, narrowly winning by less than a percentage point.  With 99% of precincts reporting, Luna had 49.48% to Gray’s 48.67%.

Kris Brown, president of the Brady Campaign, indicated that the gun control lobby now expects Democrats to take action against guns: “This election marks a mandate to enact and implement robust public safety policies that will meaningfully address the crisis of American gun violence.”  (Emphasis added.)

With their congressional majorities, Democrats could pass gun ‘reform’ legislation, but it’s unlikely to become law while President Donald Trump remains in the White House, because he will veto those bills.

Democrats could try to restore or expand funding for violence prevention and research, or reinstate the tax on National Firearm Act-regulated weapons (including suppressors) that Republicans repealed last year

Chris Harris, vice president of communications for Giffords, said restoring funding to community violence prevention programs would be “low-hanging fruit.” “The power of the purse can undo a lot of that and I think that should be a pretty achievable aim with these sizable majorities.”

Oversight would be another target, Harris said. Democrats could hold hearings and try to reign in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ rollback of gun regulations, or the Justice Department’s cancellation of federal grants, its refusals to defend federal gun laws, and its lawsuits against states and cities with strict gun laws.