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
While I am not a one issue
While I am not a one issue voter, I would think voting out those who oppose gun control is a step in the right direction. While you cannot separate homophobia from the fact a gay night club was attacked any more than you can separate the race issue from Charleston, if there were stronger gun control laws Orlando. San Bernardino, and Charleston would not have happened because the perpetrators would not have been alive today. Newtown could be an exception since the perpetrator was not the owner of the gun, but if there were tighter laws, it is safe to say that those in Orlando would be living, working, and having fun today, the folks in Charleston would be getting ready for Bible study tomorrow night, the people in San Bernardino would have celebrated the holidays and the Newtown kids would be entering 5th grade this fall.
I vote NO for gun control…
I vote NO for gun control… No matter what you give someone an inch they take a mile so I say NO and will continue to say NO. I grew up with guns all over the house and I nor my brothers or cousins never once shot our selves as kids nor did we shoot any body. But the difference is that we was educated about guns and we new we would get our butts spanked for playing with something we shouldn't.
ShoutOut .. It’s not people
ShoutOut .. It's not people like you that this country is concerned about. I'm glad to hear you and your family respect what guns are capable of and don't misuse them. But there are obviously plenty of people that don't have that mentality and want to kill as many people as possible in a very short amount of time. Let me ask you this, if you were the owner of a semi-automatic weapon and were given the ultimatum to destroy it if it meant the recent mass shooting tragedies wouldn't have happened, would you do it? I realize that might be a stretch but getting people to come to a compromise is where we need to start.