SALON

Wednesday, Feb 13, 2013 4:31 PM UTC

Republicans cagey on gun control vote

After Obama's call for Congress to vote on his proposals, Republicans are mostly radio silent on the matter

By

Topics: House Republicans, Gun Control, Barack Obama, State of the union 2013, Senate Republicans,

Republicans cagey on gun control vote (Credit: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The emotional high-note of President Obama’s State of the Union came when he called for Congress to vote on gun prevention measures. “The families of Oak Creek, and Tucson, and Blacksburg, and the countless other communities ripped open by gun violence — they deserve a simple vote,” Obama said.

As The Hill points out, at the time, “Republican leaders stood and looked around but did not applaud.” So far, the public reaction from the Republicans has been comparable.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., all made statements after Obama’s speech, but none of them mentioned a gun control vote. Only McConnell mentioned guns at all. “Gun control, cap-and-trade, tax increases, and spending programs are exactly what we’ve come to expect from a liberal President who seems perfectly content to preside over a divided country and a stagnant economy,” he said in his statement.

In an interview with CBS “This Morning,” Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., dodged a direct question about a potential vote. From the CBS transcript:

Norah O’Donnell: Do you agree there should at least be a vote on gun control? And let people vote however they want.

Ryan: Well and as Speaker Boehner has said let’s focus sequester, on the economy and let’s see what the senate can pass and send over to the house, then we would take that legislation up.

A few House Republican had more to say about it, like Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Ala., who wrote in a statement: “The President’s speech tonight focused too much on his desire for gun control, increased government spending and decreased illegal immigration enforcement.”

Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, threw some cold water on the prospect: “We are interested in looking at those areas where we can actually do something. Good intentions do not necessarily make good laws, and attempting to stampede members into voting on things that in the past have not shown an ability to prevent some of these tragedies is not the way to go.”

Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, said that he thought the President used the victims of gun violence as “political pawns,” also noting that Illinois has some of the strictest gun control laws in the country “and it has some of the highest crime in the United States. Clearly gun control is not going to protect those families.” But, he added, that ”if there’s things that we can do to save lives without violating the second amendment I think we should consider it.”

And then there’s Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla, who addressed the issue in an interview with “This Morning,” saying that a vote was likely, though there were not any proposals on the table at the moment.

“Do you agree with the President that those people deserve a vote?” asked Charlie Rose.

“Anything that would work to prevent that, again we should want to vote on,” Rubio said. “The problem is that everything the president is proposing would do nothing to prevent what has happened in Newtown, and nothing to prevent further violence in the future.” He added: “So I’m not sure which proposals the president was referring to but I’m sure there’ll be votes on it.”

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com. More Jillian Rayfield.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 1 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations