After Sandy Hook massacre, Republicans rebuffed federal gun control nearly a decade

In December 2012, a deranged gunman carrying an AR-15 rifle stormed into the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and hunted children, killing 26 people, most of them under the age of 8.

Outraged Democrats demanded action after the rampage. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) took to the Senate floor with a blown-up Daily News cover blaring three words: “SHAME ON U.S.”

But across the decade since, the Democratic Party has failed to pass major gun control legislation, running repeatedly into a brick wall of Republican resistance.

Almost 3,900 mass shootings, defined as bursts of bullets with four or more victims, have bloodied the nation since Sandy Hook, according to a tally by the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit.

And in a devastating echo, a gunman turned Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, into a killing ground on Tuesday.

At least 21 people, including 19 students, died in Uvalde, succumbing to a barrage of bullets 10 days after the racist massacre of Black shoppers in Buffalo.

Republican lawmakers did not show immediate signs of bending in their opposition to firearm crackdowns. Some Republicans say gun laws are too strict to begin with.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), speaking wistfully of past bipartisan work on gun control, said in remarks on the Senate floor on Wednesday morning that a bipartisan success on gun legislation remains a “slim prospect — very slim.”

“I thought Sandy Hook ten years ago would be the breaking point,” Schumer said. “Well, I was wrong.”

He promised he would still pursue a compromise with Republicans. But on gun control, recent history showed a series of Democratic failures to overcome Republican roadblocks.

Hours after Feinstein spoke beside a tabloid cover carrying faces of children slain at Sandy Hook, the Senate voted down bipartisan legislation to expand background checks for gun buyers, denying the one-on-one lobbying efforts of Newtown relatives.

The vote was 54 to 46 in favor of the bill, falling short of the 60 yes votes needed for passage. Four lonely Republicans cast votes in support.

“Expanded background checks would not have prevented Newtown,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who voted against the bill. “Criminals do not submit to background checks.”

A 2017 study by Harvard researchers said laws that “strengthen background checks and permit-to-purchase seemed to decrease firearm homicide rates.”

Three red-state Democrats joined the bulk of the GOP in voting against the background-check bill, as did Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who cast his vote for procedural reasons despite supporting the legislation.

Joe Biden, then the vice president, appeared close to tears that day. President Barack Obama decried a “shameful day for Washington.”

The Senate also rejected a Democrat-led bid for a ban on assault weapons by a 40 to 60 vote. The U.S. had an assault weapons ban from 1994 to 2004.

Almost three years after Sandy Hook, a shooting at a social services facility in San Bernardino, Calif., left 14 people dead. It did not alter the dynamic in Washington.

One day after the shooting, the Senate again rejected expanded background checks for gun shoppers, this time on a 48 to 50 vote. Four Republicans supported the background legislation; 50 opposed it.

The Senate, in the hands of Republican control, also bucked a bill that would have stopped people on the terror watch list from purchasing firearms. The vote was 45 in favor, 54 against.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) called the watch-list legislation “un-American.” Schumer told the Daily News at the time he was “aghast” at the Republican blockade.

A week after a gunman attacked a gay nightclub in Orlando, killing 49 people, the Senate trotted out four pieces of firearm-access legislation — two from each party – and voted all four down.

Democrats viewed the Republican proposals as toothless, but the Democrats’ bills went too far for the GOP. Obama tweeted that the Senate had “failed the American people.”

After two shattering shootings within two weeks, Democrats are looking anew at routes to pass gun control measures. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) tweeted Wednesday that Democrats plan to “work hard at a compromise for the next 10 days.”

Schumer said the party hopes to add gun-related amendments to a domestic terrorism bill that passed the House last week.

“Whether we come to agreement with the Republicans or not, we will have a vote,” Schumer told The News on Wednesday. “But we want to give it a chance to see if Republicans can come to an agreement. Because they’re feeling some heat.”