Republicans Land on Senate Majority Leader With Pro-Gun Record

Republican Senator John Thune of South Dakota would be the subsequent majority chief.

His colleagues voted for him 29 to 24 over Texas Senator John Cornyn after earlier eliminating Florida Senator Rick Scott from the competition. Thune was the candidate with the strongest report of bucking gun-control measures. In contrast to Cornyn and Scott, Thune hasn’t supported important new gun restrictions since getting into workplace within the late nineties. Nevertheless, he has signed on to a number of payments searching for to increase lawful entry to firearms and gun carry.

“I strongly assist the Second Modification, which protects ‘the correct of the individuals to maintain and bear arms,’” Thune mentioned on his marketing campaign web site. “Whereas others might disagree, I firmly imagine the plain language of the Second Modification ensures the person proper of law-abiding residents to personal firearms.”

Senate Republicans choosing Thune to succeed long-serving Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell as majority chief might influence the chance of latest federal gun laws for many years to return. Thune’s advocacy for broader gun protections and resistance to gun restrictions, even these supported by a few of his Republican colleagues, might influence the general course of his caucus within the coming years. His climb to the highest of the Republican management ladder might make pro-gun laws extra possible and concurrently diminish the percentages of latest gun-control laws.

Most not too long ago, Thune broke with McConnell and Cornyn in opposing the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which was the primary regulation to increase who’s prohibited from proudly owning weapons in many years and expanded the background examine course of for 18-to-20-year-olds trying to purchase a gun. Cornyn helped craft the invoice within the wake of the Uvalde taking pictures, and McConnell shepherded it past the 60-vote threshold wanted for passage by getting 17 Republicans on board. Scott initially co-sponsored the invoice earlier than ultimately voting towards it.

Nevertheless, Scott signed a sequence of gun-control measures because the governor of Florida within the aftermath of the Parkland taking pictures. He barred anybody below 21 years outdated from shopping for weapons and created the state’s first so-called pink flag regulation, which permits regulation enforcement to briefly seize firearms from these a court docket has deemed a hazard to themselves or others.

Thune has voted towards common background examine proposals and bans on the sale of widespread firearms, such because the AR-15, and magazines that maintain greater than 10 rounds of ammunition.

“[AR-15s] are a sporting rifle. It’s one thing that lots of people [use] for functions of going out goal taking pictures — in my state, they use them to shoot prairie canine and, you recognize, different varieties of varmints,” Thune informed The Washington Submit in 2022. “And, so, I feel there are respectable the reason why individuals would wish to have them. I feel the problem you’ve got already is that there are actually hundreds of thousands of them obtainable on this nation.”

As an alternative, he centered on the concept of making an attempt to maintain individuals, who he argued have been particularly harmful, from getting ahold of the weapons.

“So I simply assume that the problems that they need to be centered on is how do you retain these varieties of weapons out of the arms of those younger — on this case, male — very deranged, younger males,” he informed the paper.

Thune has opposed these reforms whereas additionally backing prime priorities of the gun-rights motion and firearms business through the years, together with hid carry reciprocity and interstate gun gross sales. He voted for the Safety of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which supplied the gun business a authorized defend towards legal responsibility fits for felony acts dedicated with their merchandise by third events. Thune voted to drive Washington, DC, to concern hid carry permits and for Nationwide Parks to permit loaded firearms on their premises. He has additionally repeatedly voted to drive states to acknowledge each other’s hid carry permits, even co-sponsoring a 2009 effort that garnered 58 votes.

“I’m happy to introduce laws that strikes a stability between state’s rights and particular person’s Second Modification rights outlined by the Structure,” Thune mentioned in 2012. “Fairly than set up a nationwide commonplace, our invoice will be sure that law-abiding residents are in a position to carry hid firearms whereas on the identical time respecting the legal guidelines of the respective states they go to.”

He has remained lively on gun coverage in recent times as effectively. In March 2023, he launched a invoice to bar the IRS from utilizing particular service provider class codes tied to gun retailers as the idea for investigating these companies. In September 2023, he launched a invoice to guard federal funding for looking and archery applications in faculties. In July 2024, he launched a invoice that will enable licensed sellers to promote handguns throughout state strains.

“Enabling licensed firearm sellers to promote throughout state strains strengthens law-abiding gun homeowners’ Second Modification rights and helps promote a market on which many livelihoods rely,” Thune mentioned in an announcement. “Lawful South Dakota gun homeowners, together with members of our armed forces, ought to have unimpeded entry to train their lawful proper to maintain and bear arms.”

Throughout his 2022 re-election bid, the Nationwide Rifle Affiliation gave Thune an A+ ranking. The Nationwide Taking pictures Sports activities Basis, a gun business commerce group, gave him an A+ ranking in its 2024 report as effectively.

Not each gun-rights group is happy with Thune’s report, although. Gun House owners of America, which mentioned not one of the majority chief nominees had “no compromise” information, gave him solely a 70 % ranking. The group’s most up-to-date scorecard dinged Thune for backing a pair of omnibus funding payments, one among which reauthorized a ban on weapons that may go by way of metallic detectors with out setting them off.

Thune is 63 years outdated and represents a deep pink state. His Wednesday victory within the majority chief race units him to steer the Republican Senate Caucus for a very long time.