Sen. Charles Schumer, New York Democrat, said the National Rifle Association “should put its money where its mouth is” and support President Obama’s effort to enforce gun control laws.
Six days after Mr. Obama announced a suite of executive actions intended to curb gun violence amid a wave of mass shootings, Mr. Schumer said Sunday the nation’s largest pro-firearm lobby should support the administration’s efforts to administer existing legislation, beginning by backing the White House’s plan to bring 200 new agents aboard the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives.
“The NRA has uttered the phrase, ’enforce the gun laws on the books,’ so many times that for them to oppose the hiring of sorely needed ATF agents would be like shooting their own stance in the foot,” Mr. Schumer said at a press conference in Manhattan, the New York Daily News reported.
“If they mean what they say, then it makes no sense for the NRA to oppose additional ATF agents,” he added. “These brave men and women help make sure our gun laws are being properly followed. In fact, ATF hiring, which allows us to enforce current laws, is one of the quickest, cheapest and fairest ways we can make progress on the NRA’s stated policy goal.”
While the NRA has yet to address Mr. Obama’s call to hire more ATF agents, Mr. Schumer said that any official stance from the organization that takes aim with the president’s plan would indicate the group isn’t interested in safety.
“It’s blatant hypocrisy,” he told the Daily News. “It means they’re not for any laws at all.”
“It’s cynical, it’s deceitful,” said Mr. Schumer, a co-author of the federal Assault Weapons Ban that passed in 1994 but has since sunset. “It will expose them as hypocrites.”
Mr. Obama announced in an emotional press conference Tuesday that he would ask for more funds in the fiscal 2017 budget to be allocated to the ATF, which is tasked with enforcing gun laws and conducting compliance inspections of authorized firearm dealers, among other duties.
The total number of ATF employees shrank between 2001 and 2014 from 5,039 to 4,803, while the number of firearms in circulation in the U.S. — roughly 357 million — now exceeds the number of people, per government statistics.
Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the NRA, is expected to respond to the president’s executive actions later this week.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.