Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is willing to forego his summer vacation to work on gun control legislation if freshly injured Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell _ injured Sunday during a fall in his Louisville, K.Y., home _ will join him in Washington, D.C.
The 66-year-old Brooklyn native made his demand Sunday, following a weekend that saw a massacre in Texas take 20 lives Saturday and nine people gunned down in Ohio early Sunday morning.
"El Paso, Dayton, one awful event after another," Schumer tweeted. "(Sen. McConnell) must call the Senate back for an emergency session to put the House-passed universal background checks legislation on the Senate floor for debate and a vote immediately," he wrote.
The House of Representatives passed comprehensive legislation in February that would require federal criminal background checks for all gun purchases. The senate and the president have not yet signed on. Only two Democrats opposed the House mandate, which saw eight Republicans reach across the aisle to work with the majority party.
The Senate is in recess through September so representatives can get out of Washington, D.C., for a few weeks. McConnell started his time away by fracturing his shoulder after tripping and falling on his outdoor patio, according to a spokesman for the 77-year-old conservative. McConnell was reportedly treated for his injury and returned home the same day.
It might take the veteran congressmen more than a month to come to agreement on comprehensive firearm legislation. The NRA gives McConnell an A-rating for his opposition to gun control while Schumer gets an F-grade from the Fairfax, Va., based Second Amendment hardliners.
