West Virginia senator and consistent foil to the Biden administration, Joe Manchin has signaled that he may be willing to support raising the age to 21 for gun purchases, and stated that he does not understand why anyone needs AR-15 style rifles.
Manchin, who says he hunts and participates in sport shooting, told CNN on Monday that he would not have an issue with discussing a ban on assault weapons, though even with Manchin’s support, such a measure is unlikely to pass.
The conservative Democrat wields considerable influence on the issue, being part of a bipartisan group discussing gun legislation. Despite a slight warming on the subject from Republicans, it is unlikely that the majority of the proposals laid out during President Biden’s speech on Thursday will be adopted by the Senate. Biden called for a ban on assault-style weapons, expanded background checks, a cooling period before gun purchases and so-called red flag laws, which would make it legal for state governments to temporarily seize weapons from people who are deemed a threat to themselves or others.
Of those, the red flag law is most likely to pass. The bipartisan group is discussing it, along with expanding background checks, bolstering mental health and increasing school security. However, Robb Elementary, the site of the tragic shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that ended with 19 children and two teachers dead, had its own police force and still failed to prevent, or properly respond to, the shooting.
Other proposals being discussed deal with limiting interstate trafficking of guns and penalties for gun owners who fail to properly store their weapons.
Manchin previously co-authored a bill to expand background checks on guns purchased at gun shows and the internet. He indicated that he would like that proposal to be in the final bill, but it is unknown how much support it could gain from Republicans.
Biden indicated in his speech that if Congress fails to pass an assault rifle ban, then he would be willing to settle with a minimum age increase to 21. Manchin has signaled strong support for that proposal.
"Every time we've tried to do something after horrific, horrific tragedy such as this, people said, 'Well, that wouldn't have prevented that, that wouldn't have prevented that,' " Manchin told CNN on Monday. "Well, we know we can do something that would have prevented this: raising the age. Making sure that the age at least gives us a chance to work with that person, see, evaluate and, and have a little maturity to them. And the second thing is that we know that the red flag laws do work, as long as there's due process."
Red flag laws already exist in several states. Oregon, Washington, Maryland, Vermont, Colorado, New Mexico, Florida, California, Connecticut and Indiana all have some form of red flag laws on the books. One proposal is to encourage states to enact their own red flag laws by creating a federal grant program.
While red flag laws seem to have some support among Republicans, other proposals like raising the age limit to 21 have less support. A US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found a ban on 18-20 year olds buying assault style rifles unconstitutional, though that ruling did not have the full panel of the court.
Democrats control the Senate with the slimmest possible margin. They hold 50 seats, with Vice President Harris serving as the tiebreaker. But a 60-vote majority is required to bypass any potential filibuster, meaning the Democrats need to get at least ten Republicans to flip sides if they want to pass gun control legislation.
At least, this time, it seems Manchin won’t be standing in their way.