The just-concluded push to enact bipartisan gun reforms returned New York Sen. Charles Schumer to a familiar role: helping to usher gun safety measures through Congress.

In the early 1990s, Schumer sponsored the Brady Bill and was a forceful advocate of the assault weapons ban. Both successfully passed Congress.

This time, the legislation he advocated for has been labeled modest by comparison: enhancing background checks for the youngest gun buyers and urging states to adopt red-flag laws, among other things.

Still, Schumer argues it was important to get something across the finish line, rather than nothing.

“I was out on the streets of New York this weekend. Everyone said, ‘Look, even if you can’t get everything we all want, let’s get something done,’” he recently told reporters.

 

Schumer’s Past Advocacy for Gun Reforms

In 1993, then-Rep. Schumer led the fight for the Brady Bill, mandating background checks for handgun purchases nationwide.

“The American people are sick and tired of this insanity,” Schumer said on the House floor, urging passage of the bill. “My neighbors in Queens and Brooklyn are scared. We are all frightened for our children. We’re disgusted by this orgy of handgun slaughter.”

The bill passed with Democratic and Republican votes.

The next year, Schumer was back at it, this time advocating for a so-called assault weapons ban.

“These guns are plainly and simply killing machines. They aren't made for hunting. They aren’t made for target practice,” he said.

Congress approved it, too, as part of the 1994 crime bill, an achievement that helped Schumer win a Senate seat.

 

The New Bipartisan Gun Law

Nearly three decades later, Schumer is now the Senate’s top Democrat, celebrating the passage of another gun measure. The bipartisan package, which President Joe Biden signed into law Saturday, enhances background checks for the youngest gun buyers and urges states to adopt red flag laws, while also providing money for school safety and mental health services.

“Passing this gun safety bill is truly significant, and it's going to save lives,” Schumer said from the Senate floor.

But did Schumer settle for crumbs this go-around in the push to get gun reforms across the finish line? He says no, pointing to the realities of Congress.

“We could have put a bill on the floor that had everything we wanted. It would have been blocked,” he told reporters. “People are tired of that.”

Matt Glassman, a senior fellow at Georgetown University, said arguably the bipartisan bill was the best Congress could do on gun reforms in 2022.

Schumer is, Glassman noted, navigating a closely divided Congress. Added to that, the dynamics on Capitol Hill have changed since the 1990s - a lot.

Things today are more polarized, he said. And the constant turnover in the control of Congress - something which happened less frequently in the 20th century - has reduced the incentives for inter-party cooperation.

If nothing else, Glassman said, the new law is notable because it is the first major reform since the 90s.

“It is sort of a crack in the dam of a very powerful gun rights coalition that has basically ruled Congress for several decades,” he said.