Ernst, Grassley defend gun law votes

CEDAR RAPIDS - Sen. Joni Ernst would like to say she was surprised by Democratic opposition to 'common sense” firearms legislation that failed to win passage in the U.S. Senate Monday night.

'But I am not because, again, what we saw, the rhetoric coming from the Democrats is all about focusing on gun control, but rejecting the notion of the Second Amendment in that everyone should have due process when it comes to their right to own a gun,” the Iowa Republican said Tuesday.

In a vote that largely followed party lines, the Senate rejected proposals from both parties to prevent suspected extremists or terrorists from obtaining guns and expand the federal government's system of background checks.

The votes came eight days after a shooting in an Orlando night club that claimed 49 lives making it the largest mass shooting in U.S. history.

Ernst and Sen. Chuck Grassley, also a Republican, voted for an amendment that would give the FBI three days to investigate an individual to confirm or rule out links to terrorism. If evidence of a tie to terrorism were to be found, the FBI could seek a warrant from a judge to prevent the transfer of a gun to that individual.

Ernst called that a 'reasonable solution … without unlawfully infringing on law-abiding U.S. citizens' Second Amendment rights.”

Iowa's senators also supported Grassley's amendment to improve the National Instant Criminal Background Check System - or NICS - 'without unlawfully infringing on law-abiding Americans' Second Amendment rights, Ernst said.

Ernst said on WHO Radio the votes were about 'positioning, posturing, whatever you want to call it.”

'I think there are reasonable solutions that provide a path forward, but because it was not along the lines of ‘reject all guns,' it was not supported,” Ernst said about the amendments offered by Democrats.

The amendments Democrats offered did not allow for due process for individuals mistakenly placed on a terror watch list, Ernst said.

'We've had government agencies tell us 38 percent on the watch list are incorrect,” she said.

Grassley agreed that rather than 'addressing the real problem of radical Islamic terrorism … the Democrat leadership has taken their eyes off the ball and is trying to turn this tragedy into another debate about guns.”

His general election opponent, Democrat Patty Judge, was quick to say Grassley not only opposed 'common sense” legislation to prohibit terrorism suspects from buying guns, but would make it easier for mentally ill individuals to legally buy guns.

'If you're too dangerous to fly on a plane or the government suspects you of terrorism, then you shouldn't be able to buy a gun - that shouldn't be up for debate,” Judge said.

The votes on the proposals, which were very similar to ones Democrats were unable to pass when they had the Senate majority, were seen as fodder for the parties and special interest groups to use in the 2016 campaign for control of the Senate.