Sen. Pat Toomey: Chances of Senate passing gun bill better than 50%

U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey expressed optimism Tuesday that the Senate — where gun control bills long have failed to gain traction — will pass some sort of gun legislation this year.

Toomey, a Lehigh Valley Republican, placed the odds at better than 50%.

“The fact that we were able to get this agreement and get 10 Republicans on board in principle has improved the odds further,” said Toomey, who was among a group of senators who announced a framework Sunday for a bipartisan agreement on modest gun curbs, among other measures.

The framework emerged in the wake of mass shootings in Buffalo, N.Y.; Uvalde, Texas; and Philadelphia in recent weeks.

The alleged shooters in Buffalo and Uvalde were 18 years old, prompting calls for federal legislation to raise the minimum age to purchase long guns including semi-­automatic rifles from 18 to 21.

During a conference call with reporters Tuesday, Toomey said he would not support such legislation.

“What I’m willing to support is greater scrutiny of people who are between the ages of 18 and 21. The vast majority — 99% of 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds — are law-abiding men and women who are not a threat to anyone,” Toomey said. “To say that all of them will be forbidden from owning these very commonly owned firearms — in fact, some would say, all firearms — that’s hugely problematic and might be deemed unconstitutional.”

Seven states — California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, New York, Vermont and Washington — have raised the minimum age to buy rifles and semi-automatic weapons. New York adopted its law this month.

The steps supported by Toomey in the Senate agreement include an “enhanced review process” for gun buyers younger than 21. It calls for an investigative period to review juvenile and mental health records, including checks with state databases and local law enforcement.

“The idea of having this greater scrutiny is an acknowledgment that, at least in the case of the mass shootings, it is very often these young adults who have done this,” Toomey said. “The hope is that the greater scrutiny would reveal prior criminal history or mental health issues that ought to preclude that person from buying a gun.”

Other aspects of the Senate proposal call for expanding mental health and support services in schools, including early identification and intervention programs and school-based mental health services. It also calls for “crackdowns” on criminals who illegally evade licensing requirements or straw purchase and traffic guns.

Straw purchases involve someone who buys a gun for someone who is prohibited from owning one.

Some of Toomey’s colleagues would prefer to see gun control measures that go further. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, has called for universal background checks, limits on magazine size and banning military-style assault weapons.

The U.S. had a federal assault weapons ban in place from 1994 to 2004 as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. When asked about the idea of reinstating an assault weapons ban, Toomey made it clear he is against it.

“There’s something on the order of 20 million firearms that meet various definitions of assault weapons that are currently owned by millions of Americans,” he said. “There isn’t even unanimity among Democrats to ban this category of very, very widely owned and widely used firearms.”