Rep. Mike Thompson accuses Republicans of inaction on gun violence after Orlando shooting

Hoping to capitalize on public outrage in the wake of the Orlando, Fla., mass shooting, Rep. Mike Thompson joined Democratic leaders Wednesday in calling for a vote on long-stalled gun-control legislation, saying the growing toll of American lives lost to gun violence demanded action from a deadlocked Congress.

“We have been through so many of these tragedies,” Thompson, D-St. Helena, said in an interview Wednesday from Washington, D.C.

The nine-term congressman is a lifelong gun owner, Vietnam War veteran and a point man for Democrats on gun control, serving as chairman of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. He has used that platform to voice concern about the ease with which Orlando shooter Omar Mateen bought his guns and vent frustration over Republican stonewalling on gun control, opposition he said amounted to cowardice.

“It’s just frustrating,” Thompson said. “It is a 100 percent partisan issue.”

He pressed a similar case in interviews this week with National Public Radio and the Los Angeles Times. On Tuesday, he appeared before reporters at a Washington press conference to decry what he described as the GOP’s only response to date to continued mass killings - the moment of silence called for by House Speaker Paul Ryan 48 hours after the Orlando massacre, which killed 49 people and injured 53 others.

“The Republicans are really quick to call for a moment of silence but not one single vote on gun violence legislation,” Thompson said.

He pressed for consideration of a House bill that would prevent people on the FBI terrorist watch list from buying a gun. Currently, a person on the so-called no-fly list can legally buy a firearm.

A Senate filibuster Wednesday sought to advance a similar proposal.

Gun rights advocates have dismissed previous campaigns to create new gun-control laws, which they see as potentially infringing on individuals’ right to bear arms and ineffective against violence they say is rooted in other causes.

Nevertheless, Thompson said he was introducing new legislation inspired by the Orlando shooting requiring FBI notification if someone tries to buy a gun or explosive device after being removed from the watch list.

Such a law could have alerted authorities to Mateen, who purchased his guns after being cleared by authorities.

“We just think it’s important to have a provision that would allow the FBI to come back and reassess if that person was a problem,” Thompson said.

Thompson’s bill to expand background checks for gun buyers, introduced two months after the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., has languished in committee, and the two new measures also face long odds of advancing.

Thompson said he may have picked up one new Republican supporter for his background checks bill since the Orlando shooting, and every Democrat has now signed a special petition to prevent the no-fly bill from stalling in committee. But GOP leadership continues to refuse to place the matter before Congress.

However, Thompson believes gun legislation, including his background checks bill, would pass if it came before lawmakers. The latest tragedy could give it extra momentum, he said.

“I’m the eternal optimist,” he said. “My sense is they need to do something. People are really upset. This is the worst gun massacre on U.S. soil ever. People are understandably nervous.”

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com.