{"id":194,"date":"2026-06-04T10:39:44","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T10:39:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=194"},"modified":"2026-06-04T10:39:44","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T10:39:44","slug":"democrats-concede-gun-control-is-no-longer-their-top-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=194","title":{"rendered":"Democrats Concede Gun Control Is No Longer Their Top Issue"},"content":{"rendered":"
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After the third apparent assassination attempt against President Donald Trump in late April and the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk in September, Democratic lawmakers condemned escalating political violence. But they did not call for moving any of their gun control priorities.<\/p>\n

Read more Democrats Ready a Slew of Amendments for the Defense Policy Debate<\/a><\/p>\n

The lack of action shows how legislating on firearms has become nearly impossible on Capitol Hill, and how both parties have dug into their own rhetoric. Republicans continue to rally their base around opposition to any firearms control, while Democrats counter that steps should be taken to combat violence but have shown little appetite for that highly politicized fight ahead of the midterms.<\/p>\n

Some of the Democrats who championed Congress\u2019 sweeping gun safety reform package that passed in 2022 told NOTUS that apathy is a problem.<\/p>\n

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut) helped lead bipartisan negotiations on the 2022 bill following several high-profile shootings, including one that killed 19 children and two adults at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe unfortunate reality of this issue is that we don\u2019t talk about it in the absence of a mass shooting,\u201d Murphy said.<\/p>\n

Some lawmakers and interest groups said Democrats need to do more to spotlight the issue in today\u2019s era of heightened political threats.<\/p>\n

Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Florida), who was previously the national organizing director for the gun control group March For Our Lives, told NOTUS that Democrats should not wait to regain the majority to press for gun control.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople want to talk about rhetoric, which I think is part of it, but the fact of the matter is, there\u2019s tough rhetoric in politics around the world, and the amount of political violence in the United States is not touching other places. We should also be talking about the means of political violence,\u201d Frost said.<\/p>\n

Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Arizona) \u2014 whose wife, former Rep. Gabby Giffords, was shot in the head in an assassination attempt and now runs a gun violence prevention organization \u2014 said it\u2019s imperative that Democrats draw the link between political violence and the abuse of firearms.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s violence where somebody is dangerous and shouldn\u2019t get access to a firearm, well, there\u2019s clearly stuff we can do about it,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cAnd we should. We need to continue to build the support to take action and to make the American people safe again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aneesa McMillan, the communications director at Giffords\u2019 gun violence prevention organization, told NOTUS that the group has primarily been working in statehouses while the federal conversation around gun control has stalled.<\/p>\n

McMillan said she\u2019d like to see Democratic senators refocus on gun control in the Capitol, especially as members grapple with how to respond to political violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is incumbent upon those senators to continue to talk about the issue and bring solutions to the forefront in this moment,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople at the state level are also continuing to do that because a lot of times they are on the front lines of dealing with the tragedies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) addedthat regardless of the political environment, gun violence continues to affect Americans.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunities are still living every day with the threat of gun violence, and we should be [discussing it],\u201d Van Hollen said. \u201cWe should not allow ourselves to lose that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Want Oppo on Gavin Newsom? Look to California Democrats<\/a><\/p>\n

Democrats\u2019 step back on gun control comes as some in the party are touting looser positions on gun ownership, particularly in rural states and districts.<\/p>\n

Graham Platner, the frontrunner<\/u><\/span> to be the Democratic Senate nominee in Maine, has said that as a military veteran and a gun owner, he opposes a ban on assault weapons like AR-15s.<\/p>\n

Maine state Sen. Joe Baldacci, the frontrunner in the Democratic primary to replace<\/u><\/span> Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), has opposed red flag laws for gun buyers in his state, and Colorado state Rep. Shannon Bird, one of the candidates vying to replace Rep. Gabe Evans (R-Colorado), voted against a state bill to ban assault weapons.<\/p>\n

The shift follows a massive restructuring of gun lobbying as the National Rifle Association faces a historic decline in membership and unprecedented financial strain. Groups like Gun Owners of America and the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade association for the firearms industry, are now stepping up their presence in Washington.<\/p>\n

Larry Keane, senior vice president at NSSF, told NOTUS that Democrats\u2019 marketing of the 2022 gun control bill has turned off Republicans from collaborating with them on any future gun reform measure. The bill enhanced background checks for those under 21, banned convicted domestic abusers from buying firearms and provided funding for states to implement red flag laws and student mental health and violence prevention programs.<\/p>\n

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who helped lead the bipartisan initiative, recently lost<\/u><\/span> his bid for reelection in a primary contest in part due to backlash against his role in negotiating the act.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe actions by Senator Murphy and the Biden administration hyping the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which was a genuine effort at bipartisanship, has put a bad taste in the mouths of many Republicans,\u201d Keane said. \u201cYou have to assume that Republicans would be very wary of touching the hot stove again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of the Democratic lawmakers asked by NOTUS said they continue to support measures like red flag laws and a federal assault weapons ban, but they conceded those have not been a top issue given the political environment and reluctance from Republicans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know the political realities,\u201d Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) told NOTUS.<\/p>\n

Rep. Mike Thompson (D-California), who led Democrats\u2019 efforts on gun reform in the House, also said he agrees it\u2019s challenging to discuss gun reform across the aisle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that we are doing stuff, and we talk about it in committee, but unfortunately the Republicans are in lockstep with the NRA,\u201d Thompson told NOTUS. \u201cSo it\u2019s very difficult to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) said general dysfunction in Congress will ultimately prohibit Democrats from moving forward on any meaningful firearm-related legislation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still a priority for us, but at this point, we know that they\u2019re not going to do anything about it,\u201d Duckworth said. \u201cI don\u2019t even think we\u2019re going to get a farm bill through, a transportation bill. \u2026 Do I think we\u2019re going to get an assault weapons ban through? Never.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Women in Congress Say a Gender Gap Impedes Sexual Harassment Probes<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Strong Republican opposition and apathy to repeated shootings makes legislative action challenging.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress"],"yoast_head":"\nDemocrats Concede Gun Control Is No Longer Their Top Issue - Modern Home Journals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=194\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Democrats Concede Gun Control Is No Longer Their Top Issue - Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Strong Republican opposition and apathy to repeated shootings makes legislative action challenging.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=194\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-04T10:39:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=194#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=194\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"headline\":\"Democrats Concede Gun Control Is No Longer Their Top Issue\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-04T10:39:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=194\"},\"wordCount\":1098,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=194#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/0d029e253b53765041def2ecc11dc77f-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Congress\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=194#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=194\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=194\",\"name\":\"Democrats Concede Gun Control Is No Longer Their Top Issue - Modern Home Journals\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=194#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=194#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/0d029e253b53765041def2ecc11dc77f-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-04T10:39:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=194#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=194\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=194#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/0d029e253b53765041def2ecc11dc77f-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/0d029e253b53765041def2ecc11dc77f-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"John Deloca, owner of Seneca Sporting Range, prepares to load bullets in his 9mm semi-automatic handgun for a shooting demonstration at his gun range, Thursday, June 23, 2022, in New York. 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