House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer want Senate Republicans to take up legislation to expand background checks for people who buy guns.
During a news conference at the Capitol, Pelosi said if Republicans do not pass House Bill Eight, there will be "hell to pay." Schumer added that too many Americans are losing their lives to gun violence because of loopholes in the federal background check system.
Dayton, Ohio Mayor Nan Whaley, who was critical of President Trump's visit to her city after a mass shooting there this summer, says she is trying to compel the Senate just to have an up or down vote on what the House has already passed. Whaley is among a group of mayors from across the country who traveled to Washington in an effort to pressure lawmakers to vote on the pending bill.
Both Pelosi and Schumer sent a letter to President Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pointing to the recent mass shootings across America as the reason why the legislation is needed.