After yet another mass shooting that targeted a gay nightclub in Orlando, and after a 15-hour filibuster, the Senate once again voted no on gun control. They rejected four proposed reforms, including an expansion of background checks, and denying those on terror watch lists the ability to buy guns.
According to CNN, each proposal needed but failed to pass the 60-vote threshold in order to succeed. Breaking down along party lines, the Senate rejected two Republican proposals, one of which would’ve required more mental health information to be provided in background check databases and another that would delay sales to people on a government terror watch list. The two Democratic proposals included one banning gun sales to those on terror watch lists and to expand background check requirements to gun shows and for online purchases. The latter was sponsored by Senator Chris Murphy, who led the filibuster that got these measures to a vote.
Murphy, not surprisingly, seemed livid about the vote. “I’m mortified by today’s vote but I’m not surprised by it,” he told CNN. “The NRA has a vice-like grip on this place.”
There might be a fifth vote taking place as early as Tuesday though. Republican senator Susan Collins is drafting a compromise measure that would ban people on the government’s no-fly list from purchasing guns while protecting those who were wrongly placed there. The no-fly list is smaller than the terror watch one. However, it’s unlikely that Collins can get enough Democrats to support her measure, and even if they do, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said he wouldn’t put it up for a vote.
So, there you have it. Congress deadlocks on gun control once again.
(via CNN)