Senate Says No To Gun Reform After Orlando & After Receiving Millions of Dollars

It looks like DC is back to its own ways.  After a senseless massacre, hearts remain cold, uncaring, and bought.

The measures Monday each went down in succession on largely party line votes. The 60-vote threshold required for passage prevented even Republicans, who control the chamber, from pushing through their favored measures.

 

The Senate rejected first a Republican proposal to update the background check system for gun purchases, which would have required states to add more information on mental health records to a national database. It also included a provision to alert law enforcement agencies when an individual who was on a government terror watch list in the last five years buys a gun.

 

The proposal, sponsored by Iowa GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley, failed to get the 60 votes for passage. The vote was 53-47, largely along party lines. Some Senate Democrats warned that the legislation's revised definition of who would be considered mentally ill could potentially still allow those with significant psychological issues to legally purchase guns.

 

A second proposal to expand the background check system for those buying guns to require checks at gun shows and for online purchases went down 44-56. Murphy, the Democrat who launched a nearly 15-hour filibuster last week to press for new gun restrictions after the Orlando massacre where 49 people were killed, sponsored the proposal.

 

A Republican proposal to delay gun sales to individuals included on a government terror watch list failed in a mostly party-line vote of 53-47. The measure was sponsored by Texas GOP Sen. John Cornyn. The bill would allow a judge to permanently block a purchase if the court determined probable cause that the individual is involved in terrorist activity.

 

And a Democratic option that sought to bar all gun sales to those individuals on the terror watch list failed 47-53, the second time the proposal went down to defeat after a mass shooting. California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein originally pushed the proposal in December after a shooting in San Bernardino, and revived it after the horrific Orlando nightclub shooting by a gunman who pledged allegiance to the terror group ISIS.

 

Feinstein's plan did garner the support of some Republicans, including Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire who is facing a fierce re-election bid this year.

 

Sen. Mark Kirk, another vulnerable Republican up for re-election, voted with Democrats on all of the four amendments.

 

On the flip side, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, a moderate Democrat, voted with Republicans to oppose the two amendments offered by Murphy and Feinstein. – cnn.com

Everytown.org reported on the "second proposal to expand the background check system for those buying guns to require checks at gun shows and for online purchases went down 44-56." Good ol' Marco Rubio voted no.  Surprised?  I thought he turned over a new leaf, but alas he's the same mistake of a Senator we foolishly elected.  Here's a screen shot of a section of the results. For the whole list and a link to your senator's phone number, go to everytown.org 

Here is how much money some of the senators who voted against gun reform received from the NRA.

I was surprised that Rubio only received $4,950.  Some hearts are already stone and do not need to be bought. To see how much the negative Senators received from the NRA, head over to medium.com. The site doesn't mention the NRA donation time frame.  

Would you have voted yes or no on these gun reforms? 

h/t:  everytown.org and medium.com