Senator Christopher S. Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut and an author, with Mr. Cornyn, of the more limited background check bill, equated taking up his own legislation without allowing consideration of alternatives to “slamming the door in the face of all these kids who are demanding change.”
“I think it is imperative that we rise to the moment,” Mr. Murphy said.
Democrats are not yet threatening to block debate on the background measure if Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, decides to bring it to the floor with no chance to add to it. They are leery of taking that step because it would allow Republicans to accuse them of blocking consensus legislation that many of them are co-sponsoring and stifling a debate they say they want.
But they also don’t want Republicans to get credit for passing something that Democrats view as too narrow.
Instead, they hope to persuade Mr. McConnell to allow votes on multiple proposals, a plan that could throw the Senate into a full-blown showdown over competing gun control measures. While Mr. McConnell has been quiet about his intentions, Mr. Cornyn opened the door to that possibility provided it could get to passage of his bill at a minimum.
“We can set up a situation where they can vote on those amendments,” he said. “What I don’t want to do is leave here this week and go back home to Texas and say we failed to do anything to try to address these tragedies.”
Even if Mr. McConnell wanted to corner Democrats into a potentially embarrassing position, he cannot easily do so because he faces resistance from his own right flank on the narrow background check bill. Underscoring the difficulties of getting any measure passed, some conservative Republicans, including Senator Mike Lee of Utah, are opposed to that bipartisan bill on the grounds that it could deprive people of the opportunity to challenge their inclusion on a list used to deny them the ability to buy a gun.
Mr. McConnell is never one to rush into a fight that divides his own party if he can avoid it. Colleagues say he would prefer to quickly reach a resolution and move on, a prospect that does not appear in the cards so far.
As lawmakers quibbled about how to proceed, some of the multiple proposals promoted by Mr. Trump were falling by the wayside.
Republican lawmakers seem uninterested in plans to raise the age to buy all guns to 21. The idea of arming teachers was also getting a cold reception. Among plans circulating that could draw bipartisan support was a measure that would prevent those on federal no-fly lists from buying guns, though that approach has met Republican resistance in the past.
Hoping to skirt a divisive debate, Republicans preferred to focus on other remedies, like improving general school safety, while pointing to law enforcement failures surrounding the Parkland shooting.
The uncertainty in the Senate was also lifting some of the pressure to act from Republican leaders in the House. “Well, find out what the Senate can do and then we’ll address that,” Speaker Paul D. Ryan said.
Democrats remained skeptical that Republicans would be willing to buck the N.R.A., particularly in an election year, but said it would be an imperative for legislative success.
“You can’t solve this problem and please the N.R.A.,” said Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader. “Our Republican colleagues need to learn that.”
Given longstanding political conflict over the issue, many lawmakers in both parties anticipate the push for new laws will likely fall apart as so many others have in the aftermath of mass shootings.
If that is the outcome, the determined high school students and their allies who have helped drive the debate to this point seem unlikely to let the issue go. Maybe the difference this time isn’t that Congress will act, but it is that those pushing Congress will not allow lawmakers to so quickly move on after they don’t.
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