Kerr’s words will be put to the test soon enough. That very bill is once again the subject of renegotiation in Congress. Senate leaders plan to hold a vote on the issue when the chamber returns from its Memorial Day break next Tuesday. Will the Senate deadlock finally be broken?

Hardening schools

This is a concept being pushed by fierce defenders of the Second Amendment,such as Texas Senator Ted Cruz,who tweeted this week:“Enough is enough. We need to act by hardening school security and hiring armed police officers to keep our kids safe.”

The idea is that instead of gun control,schools should become more like airports in the aftermath of September 11.

This could involve arming teachers and administrators;increasing the presence of law-enforcement officers;or reducing the number of entrances at a school to make it more difficult for shooters to get in.

Certain states have already adopted such proposals. Texas,for instance,supports districts that want to arm their teachers with training. According to its education agency,it has more than 250 school staff serving as marshalls.

Other schools reduced the number of entrances in the wake of the Santa Fe High School shooting of 2018,when a student killed eight classmates and two teachers at a school just outside of Houston.

And Cruz himself has previously introduced legislation that proposed giving $US300 million ($420 million) in federal grants to “harden schools” with bulletproof doors and windows,along with more armed officers,but the Democrats blocked his bill.

“This mass murderer came in through an unlocked door at the back of the school,” Cruz lamented on Fox News. “If those federal grants could have gone to this school,the armed police officers could have taken him out.”

Banning assault weapons

One week ago,days after losing her grandmother in the Buffalo mass shooting,24-year-old Kayla Jones proposed something Australia achieved long ago in the aftermath of the Port Arthur massacre:getting rid of assault weapons altogether.

“It’s getting ridiculous —- we’re tired of burying loved ones to gun violence and hate,” she said,moments after the president met families of the victims gunned down in the racially motivated attack.

“I truly believe that if we can’t get the guns off the streets,we should just make it illegal to have them. Why do we need them?”

It was a fair question — and one that gun-reform advocates are once again asking. Legislation passed in 1994 prohibiting the “manufacture,transfer and possession” of about 118 firearm models and all magazines holding more than 10 rounds. However,the ban expired in 2004.

Biden is now calling on Congress to revive the bill.

“I spent my career as a senator and as vice president working to pass commonsense gun laws,” he said on Tuesday,after hearing about the Robb Elementary shooting on his way home from a Quad meeting in Asia.

“We can’t and won’t prevent every tragedy. But we know they work and have a positive impact. When we passed the assault weapons ban,mass shootings went down. When the law expired,mass shootings tripled.”

Red flag laws

Maybe – just maybe — this is an idea that could receive enough bipartisan support to get over the line.

The proposal would involve giving grants to states that introduce “red flag” laws,which are designed to ensure that people who exhibit signs of being dangerous to themselves or others can be denied access to guns by order of a judge.

A number of states have these laws,but this proposal — which is now being discussed informally by a small group of Senate Democrats and Republicans — could create greater national consistency.

Connecticut Democrat Chris Murphy,who gave an impassioned speech on Tuesday begging his colleagues to finally act on gun reform,is among the senators leading the latest push,almost a decade after he called for similar laws following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in his state.

So,too,is fellow Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal,who said this week that he had been working “for years” with Republican senator Lindsey Graham on an incentive scheme.

Others reportedly involved in the preliminary talks include Republican senator Susan Collins and renegade Democrat Kyrsten Sinema.

It remains unclear how effective such a law would be. Buffalo shooter Payton Gendron,for instance,evaded New York’s “red flag” laws that could have prevented him from owning a gun. But at least,it’s the start of a dialogue.

Beefing up the gun watchdog

There’s a federal law-enforcement agency in the US that has the authority to respond to gun crimes. It’s the Bureau of Alcohol,Tobacco,Firearms and Explosives.

The trouble is,the ATF,as it’s more commonly known,hasn’t had a director for seven years. According to Senate Judiciary chair Dick Durbin,the delay is political.

“Gun groups want it to go vacant;they don’t want the agency doing its job,” he said yesterday.

The ATF has operated with a string of acting directors ever since 2015 when the last chief stood down.

Biden’s first nominee for the post withdrew amid opposition from gun industry groups and some politicians. Former president Donald Trump’s nominee,a leader of the nation’s most powerful police union,also failed to win Senate confirmation to fill the spot.

Biden has now nominated former federal prosecutor Steven Dettelbach to be the ATP’s new director and has asked the Senate to confirm him as soon as possible.

Installing a new ATF director is one of the few consequential moves the administration can still make,and the White House is optimistic their latest pick,who is well regarded by both sides of politics,might finally get enough votes.

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