Democrats Are Split Over How to Shape Approach to Gun Bills

By JENNIFER STEINHAUER, NYT

WASHINGTON — As Congressional Democrats shape their strategy for considering President Obama’s proposals to curb gun violence, sharp divisions are forming between lawmakers who believe the best path to success is through narrowly written bills and a meticulous legislative process, and those who advocate a more guerrilla approach.

Many Democrats, and some Senate Republicans, believe the only legislation that has a whisper of a chance of passing would be bills that are tightly focused on more consensus elements like enhancing background checks or limits on magazines, subjected to debate in committee and then brought to a vote after building bipartisan support.

That would be a departure from recent years, when the leadership often sidestepped committees and sought to take fights directly to the floor.

Others, particularly those senators who have long fought for gun control measures, believe a plodding process allows too much time for opposition to build, and prefer to fast-track measures by adding them as amendments to other bills, even blocking bills in ways that have angered Democrats, until they are granted votes on those ideas.

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