Senate Bill to Extend Background Checks Killed by Filibuster
So much for significant new gun-control legislation. The bipartisan Manchin-Toomey bill to extend background checks to gun shows and Internet sales has died in the Senate. It got 54 votes, but that wasn’t enough to overcome what was essentially a Republican filibuster.
The Manchin-Toomey compromise bill was a scaled-back version of earlier proposals to extend background checks to unregulated private gun sales. Many gun experts argued that the slimmed-down proposal would have only marginal effects on gun violence. But even that small step couldn’t get through the Senate.
Republicans who voted for the bill included Pat Toomey (Pa.), Mark Kirk (Ill.), and Susan Collins (Maine) and John McCain (Ariz).
Democrats who voted against the bill included Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Max Baucus (Mont.), Mark Begich (Alaska) and Mark Pryor (Ark.). Technically, Harry Reid voted “no,” but that’s a procedural move so that he has the right to bring the bill up again.
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