Joe Manchin is the Democrat behind the “Toomey-Manchin” background check proposal that failed in a spectacularly embarrassing manner, with Vice President Joe Biden personally presiding over the vote in the Senate. (He thought it would pass and he’d be present for a historic event, but instead he presided over the demise of his own agenda). That failed vote marked the last major push for federal gun control within the Obama Administration.
Less than 100 days into the Trump administration Manchin sounds at least somewhat hopeful that the President might be convinced into backing the previously failed background check bill. From WYFF4:
Asked Friday if he thinks the background check proposal will reemerge under a new president, Manchin said he thinks Trump can apply some “gun sense” to the measure. “I truly believe he can make a difference.”
He argued that many of his constituents said four years ago they were fine with the substance of the amendment but feared it would lead to a slippery slope for Obama to implement more gun control.
But people have different perceptions of Trump, he added.
“There’s no one who believes he’s going to take their guns away,” Manchin said.
Manchin said Trump could do this by saying he wants to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists and criminals. “He would be the person that could help us with that,” he said.
“There’s a reason that certain people shouldn’t be able to have access to guns. Every law-abiding gun owner understands that,” he said. “They read our bill and saw we had a good piece of legislation, but no one had the fortitude to do it. And he could do it.”
In The World According to Joe Manchin, his background check bill failed because voters didn’t trust President Obama. Not that the title sounded good but the content was terrible. Not because the bill would be a train wreck for gun owners and their constitutionally protected civil rights.
The probability that Donald Trump will sacrifice his NRA backing to support the Democrat’s gun control proposals is about as likely as Robert getting married again. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but no one involved really wants that, do they?