WASHINGTON — Gov. Cuomo slammed members of Congress yesterday as the pawns of gun-rights extremists, even as US senators hailed a bipartisan proposal to expand background checks to private sales at gun shows and online.
“This is a Congress that is captive of the extremists, and there is no clearer proof of that than this,” Cuomo said on the “Capital Pressroom” radio show. “We’re down to just improving background checks . . . I think that’s a damning commentary on this Congress.”
Others viewed the deal, which no longer includes a federal ban on assault weapons, as the first major breakthrough in the national debate over guns since the December school massacre in Newtown, Conn.
Currently, only guns purchased from federally licensed dealers require background checks, leaving private sales at gun shows free of the scrutiny.
“I don’t consider criminal-background checks to be gun control. I think it’s just common sense,” said Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, the Republican sponsor of the measure, which could lead to the biggest change in American gun laws in 20 years.
The National Rifle Association immediately condemned the proposal.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY), who crafted the original background-check language in the Senate bill, endorsed the amendment to it.
“I’ve always called background checks the sweet spot,” said Schumer, who authored the 1993 “Brady Bill” requiring the licensed-dealer checks. “The sweet spot got sweeter today. If you would pick one thing to accomplish in gun control, this would be it.”
President Obama applauded the compromise.
“This is not my bill and there are aspects of the agreement that I might prefer to be stronger,” Obama said. “But the agreement does represent welcome and significant bipartisan progress.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) will call for a vote today on allowing debate on the gun- control legislation to begin. Ten Republicans have said they won’t filibuster the motion, which should be enough to allow Democrats to reach the 60 votes necessary to proceed.
Choking back tears, First Lady Michelle Obama yesterday asked people at a luncheon in her hometown of Chicago to get behind gun control, and recalled the recent shooting death there of a a 15-year-old girl who had performed at the president’s inauguration.