Durbin says gun control measures not likely to pass despite Orlando shooting

Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin suggested Friday that the availability of guns in the U.S. is so porous that al-Qaida and other terrorist groups are steering followers to gun shows and away from using airplanes to wreak havoc.

Still, nearly a week after the shooting deaths of 49 patrons at an Orlando, Fla., nightclub and following a nearly 15-hour Democratic filibuster in the Senate, the state’s senior senator said prospects for enacting proposals to keep guns out of the hands of suspected terrorists or require background checks at gun shows was “not very strong.”

Durbin appeared at the Chicago Urban League in Bronzeville to rally public support for the legislation, which he said would not only curb mass shootings across the country but reduce Chicago’s gun violence due to an influx of guns he said come from northern Indiana gun shows.

“When a great city like Chicago has been just devastated by gun violence and gun deaths as it has over the last year or two, we’ve got to step up and do something about it, something significant, and we can’t do it alone,” said Durbin, who was joined by Ald. Pat Dowell, 3rd, Urban League Executive Director Shari Runner and Patrick Korellis, a survivor of the Valentine’s Day 2008 Northern Illinois University shooting that killed five.

Dowell said the events in Orlando were “indeed tragic, but we have incidents of terrorism in our communities in Chicago every day, and so anything that can be done to tighten up the gun laws, to require background checks, to get these weapons off our streets is important.”

On Monday, the Republican-led Senate is scheduled to consider Democratic-backed legislation that would set up rules barring known or suspected terrorists from buying firearms and explosives, as well as to broaden background checks for gun purchases, which is largely regulated state-by-state. Two GOP-authored measures also are up for a vote.

Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk, who is seeking re-election against Democratic Rep. Tammy Duckworth, said Friday he had joined with Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California in sponsoring a proposal aimed at preventing suspected terrorists from purchasing guns. It is similar to one Kirk backed in December when he was the only GOP member to cross the aisle when it was defeated.

The proposal would let the attorney general have the power to block the sale of guns or explosives to known or suspected terrorists if there was a “reasonable belief” the weapons would be used for terrorism. It also would flag anyone who had been subject to a federal terrorism investigation in the past five years.

Kirk also has introduced legislation that would place the names of people investigated for possible terrorism ties into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. As a result, a background check on a gun purchaser with investigated terrorism ties could be determined and the FBI would be alerted. But the bill “would not automatically bar someone previously investigated for terrorism from purchasing a firearm,” Kirk’s office said in a statement.

Durbin contended if suspected terrorism ties were enough to stop people from being able to board airplanes, they also should not be able to purchase a firearm.

“If there is a mistake, which side do we err on? Do we err on the side that the suspected terrorist should buy a firearm and then we’ll check it out?” Durbin said. “Or, do we check it out and then decide whether or not they’re entitled to a firearm? When it comes to getting on an airplane, we don’t think twice about it.”

Because of the so-called no-fly list, Durbin said, “al-Qaida has steered their would-be terrorists away from airports. They want to send them to gun shows where they can buy these guns, these assault weapons, without a background check. They know that assault weapon can wreak more havoc in a short period of time than any plane might, sadly, if it were sabotaged. That is a reality.”

Some Republicans are trying to advance anti-terrorism legislation that would require the Department of Justice to prove up in 72 hours a suspected terrorist’s ties as a rationale to deny someone a gun. Durbin said the proposed adjudication rule was “totally unrealistic,” though due-process appeal procedures should exist.

Durbin said the measures denying suspected terrorists access to firearms and requiring gun show background checks were needed, together.

“If we said we’re going to keep guns out of the hands of would-be terrorists but we’re not going to close the loopholes in the background check, it’s pointless. They’re not that stupid. If they know they’re on the terrorist watch list, they’re not going to go to a gun dealer if that disqualifies them. They’re going to go to a northern Indiana gun show where no questions are asked,” he said.

Durbin also expressed support for hiring more FBI agents, though he declined to offer a number.

“When you look at what they’re faced with — international terrorism and those who are sympathetic to international terrorism — we need to give them the resources to fight it,” he said.

Skiba reported from Washington, D.C.

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