Dems pressed on Biden's call for assault weapons ban during lame duck session: Filibuster causing 'problems'

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Democrats pressed on assault weapons ban: Filibuster 'causing problems'

Congressional Democrats were pressed on CNN, CBS and MSNBC on Sunday about the likelihood of passing an assault weapons ban during the lame duck session. 

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., and Rep. Madeline Dean, D-Pa., were all pressed on the likelihood of Democrats passing an assault weapons ban during the lame duck session of Congress on Sunday during appearances on CNN, CBS and MSNBC. 

MSNBC's Jonathan Capehart asked Dean if an assault weapons ban was likely to happen during this lame duck session of Congress. 

"I don’t know how likely it is," she said. "But we’ve done an awful lot against conventional wisdom and limited numbers. I’m with the president. The House already passed the assault weapons ban back in July. So it sits with the Senate that has a 51% majority at this point we hope it will go to 52."

"And by the way," she continued, "very proud that we got the senator-elect John Fetterman across the line. We have work to do. So we should get the assault weapons ban passed in the Senate so that the president can sign it. I would add to that must-do list universal background checks."

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President Biden said he was going to try to "get rid of assault weapons."

Rep. Madeline Dean says it's unlikely the Senate will pass an assault weapons ban. 

"The idea we still allow semi-automatic weapons to be purchased is sick," Biden said on Thursday. "It has no socially redeeming value… Not a single solitary rationale for it except profit for the gun manufacturers."

During CNN's "State of the Union," host Dana Bash asked Murphy if there was "any path" in which an assault weapons ban passes through the Senate. 

"You listed the very long agenda we have from here to the end of the year," Murphy said. "We’ve got to increase the debt ceiling, we've got to keep the government open and operating. But I’m glad that President Biden is going to be pushing us to take a vote on an assault weapons ban. The House has already passed it. It’s sitting in front of the Senate." 

"Does it have 60 votes in the Senate right now?" he asked. "Probably not. Let’s see if we can try to get that number as close to 60 as possible. If we don’t have the votes, then we’ll talk to Sen. Schumer and maybe come back next year with maybe an additional senator and sees if we can do better."

He added that the ban would only stop new sales and said the U.S. would see fewer mass shootings. The House of Representatives passed an assault weapons ban in July.

Sen. Chris Murphy sits down with CNN's Dana Bash on Sunday. (Screenshot/CNN/StateOfTheUnion)

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"If those weapons were no longer commercially available, only in possession of those who bought them previously, I think a lot of mass shootings would have been prevented," he said. 

CBS "Face the Nation" host Margaret Brennan asked Clyburn what Democrats planned to do during the lame duck session. 

"What are you willing to do in the lame duck? You just said in the lame duck you have to take action. What does that mean? What are Democrats going to do?" she asked. 

Clyburn said the House had already passed an assault weapons ban and noted that the filibuster was causing the Democrats problems in the Senate. 

(L-R) Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden looks on as U.S. Rep. and House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) announces his endorsement for Biden at Trident Technical College February 26, 2020, in North Charleston, South Carolina. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

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"We’re trying to get the Senate to act. We’ve done this on the House side. So, that’s the problem. Democrats control the House. And we passed the bill. We do not control the Senate, and that’s where the filibuster is causing us problems," he said. 

Clyburn said that while the priority was to keep the government funded, he also said the Electoral Count Reform Act and the Voting Rights act are "fundamental to our democracy." 

"These two things are fundamental to our democracy and we need to keep them in the forefront. Yes, keep the government open. Let’s also keep fundamental rights protected. That to me would be two and these gun safety laws would be closely thereafter," he said. 

Democratic U.S. Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, running for re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2022 U.S. midterm elections, speaks during a signing ceremony where President Joe Biden signed "The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022" into law in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, U.S. August 16, 2022. (REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo) (Reuters)

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Murphy also told Bash that the bipartisan gun legislation that the president signed in June was being implemented "as we speak" and that it takes "a little while for these big complicated laws to be put into place."