The lone exception was Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse:
"Due process" is a selectively-invoked principle by this president. Other pro-gun commentators joined the chorus, warning Trump that one of the few ways he could divorce himself from a massive portion of his base is to go soft on the Second Amendment. Here's the typically-Trumpy Laura Ingraham firing off a rhetorical warning shot:
That was Wednesday. By Thursday morning, Trump was hedging:
Heaven only knows where this is all headed, but it could be a rerun of the Great White House Listening Session on DACA, wherein Trump seemed to agree with Democrats on some issues, then promised to sign basically any DREAM Act deal that made it to his desk. That position didn't last very long. Another possibility is that Trump was (very clumsily) endorsing a policy that is worthy of serious discussion. National Review writer David French -- a strong Second Amendment supporter who recently wrote an excellent piece deconstructing the folly of Democrats' proposed "assault weapons" ban -- thinks he knows what the president meant with his breathtaking 'confiscate guns now, ask due process questions later' suggestion:
I don't believe it's at all "obvious" what Trump was thinking about here, but the idea French outlines is an interesting one:
It's called a gun-violence restraining order, or GVRO. While there are various versions of these laws working their way through the states (California passed a GVRO statute in 2014, and it went into effect in 2016), broadly speaking they permit a spouse, parent, sibling, or person living with a troubled individual to petition a court for an order enabling law enforcement to temporarily take that individual's guns right away. A well-crafted GVRO should contain the following elements ("petitioners" are those who seek the order, "the respondent" is its subject):French acknowledges that this idea has mostly been embraced by liberals, but urges conservatives to weigh it on the merits. This proposal to keep guns out of the hands of verifiably troubled individuals, with a due process system in place to adjudicate potential unjust denials of rights, is a reasonable idea that at least merits real debate. Whether Trump has ever remotely heard of or thought through GVRO's, I have no idea. But he may have hit on a decent proposal, even if accidentally. (UPDATE: Marco Rubio is introducing legislation along these lines).The concept of the GVRO is simple, not substantially different from the restraining orders that are common in family law, and far easier to explain to the public than our nation's mental-health adjudications. Moreover, the requirement that the order come from people close to the respondent and that they come forward with real evidence (e.g. sworn statements, screenshots of social-media posts, copies of journal entries) minimizes the chance of bad-faith claims.
- It should limit those who have standing to seek the order to a narrowly defined class of people (close relatives, those living with the respondent);
- It should require petitioners to come forward with clear, convincing, admissible evidence that the respondent is a significant danger to himself or others;
- It should grant the respondent an opportunity to contest the claims against him;
- In the event of an emergency, ex parte order (an order granted before the respondent can contest the claims), a full hearing should be scheduled quickly - preferably within 72 hours; and
- The order should lapse after a defined period of time unless petitioners can come forward with clear and convincing evidence that it should remain in place.
Parting thought: Are Democrats cynically walking away from legislation that (a) represents a common-sense measure and (b) has a real chance of passing because they now believe they can hold out for more? Republicans shouldn't insist on concealed carry reciprocity in order to support NICS fixes on the existing background checks regime that has failed terribly in a number of recent instances. And Democrats shouldn't hold this idea 'hostage' (their term) as leverage to push further. Everyone seems to agree that something should be done. The Cornyn/Murphy bill is a rare case of broad consensus. Leave it to Washington to screw even that up.
Comment: Information gathering. Trump, again, sussed out the Dems' threshold of support by suggesting an outcome they might agree with (to which he is not obligated to follow through) and in turn, the level of Republican push back.
See also: 'Take the guns first', Trump parts with Republicans over gun-control plan