Senate blocks gun measures offered in wake of Orlando shooting
WASHINGTON — The Senate as expected on Monday rejected four partisan gun measures offered in the wake of the Orlando massacre, including proposals to keep guns out of the hands of people on terror watch lists.
Two Republican proposals would have increased funding for the national background check system and created a judicial review process to keep a person on a terror watch list from buying a gun; two Democratic measures would have expanded background checks to private gun sales and allowed the Justice Department to ban gun sales to suspected terrorists.
The Senate voted down similar bills in December after the shooting rampage in San Bernardino, Calif. With the current party split in the Senate, any successful bid to toughen gun laws would need bipartisan support to get to the 60-vote threshold required. There are 54 Republicans and 46 Democrats and Independents who caucus with them.
A look at the 4 gun bills up for vote in Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., suggested Democrats are simply using the issue as a political talking point and said the two GOP measures sponsored by Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, are "real solutions."
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"No one wants a terrorist to be able to buy guns or explosives. No one," McConnell said. "Instead of using this as an opportunity to push a partisan agenda or craft the next 30-second campaign ad, colleagues like Sen. Cornyn and Sen. Grassley are pursuing real solutions that can help keep Americans safer from the threat of terrorism."
Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called the Republican measures "political stunts" and said they are "meaningless in doing something to stop gun violence."
"These are amendments to divert attention from real legislation," Reid said. "Why? So Republicans (can) say 'Hey, look, we tried,' and all the time their cheerleaders, their bosses at the NRA, are cheering."
Democrats say the GOP is out of step with the American people, pointing to polls that show a majority want stricter gun laws. An NBC News/Survey Monkey online poll conducted after the Orlando massacre last week found 61% of those surveyed support stricter gun laws; 38% opposed them. The survey also found 60% support a ban on "assault weapons" and 38% oppose it.
A Monmouth University telephone poll released Monday had a tighter margin, with 52% supporting such a ban and 43% opposing it.
Omar Mateen had legally purchased a semi-automatic assault rifle and handgun before launching the rampage at Pulse nightclub in Orlando that left 49 dead and 53 injured.
The Senate did not schedule a vote on an assault weapons ban Monday. The four measures defeated Monday were proposed amendments to legislation funding the Commerce and Justice departments for the next fiscal year:
• The first, sponsored by Grassley, would have called for research on the causes of mass shootings and increased funding for the background check system, although it would not have expanded the types of gun sales that require them.
•The second, sponsored by Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., would have expanded background check requirements to include private sales and sales over the Internet.
•The third, sponsored by Cornyn, would allow federal law enforcement officials to delay gun sales to suspected terrorists, including those on watch and no-fly lists, for three days and then halt the sales, but only after proving probable cause before a judge.
•The final amendment, sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., would have allowed the attorney general to halt sales to suspected terrorists and allow individuals to appeal to the Department of Justice if they are denied a firearm.
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Republicans said they opposed the Feinstein measure because they say it does not provide enough due process for individuals wrongly barred from buying guns.
“I opposed Senator Feinstein’s proposal because it would not prevent terrorist attacks, but it would deny thousands of law-abiding Americans their constitutionally protected right to bear arms without any due process," Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said.
Rubio, like other Republicans, said the Murphy amendment to expand background checks would place "too many burdens on law-abiding Americans." Republicans have said criminals would be able to get guns anyway.
Reid and other Democrats seized on the GOP's failure to support their favored measures. He said "Senate Republicans should be embarrassed but they're not," and accused them of doing the bidding of the National Rifle Association instead of the American people.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H, who is locked in a tough re-election battle, took to the Senate floor Monday and appealed to her colleagues to come together to find a compromise.
She said she has been working with fellow Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Jeff Flake of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina on a bill that would ban gun sales to the roughly 900 Americans on the no-fly list, a smaller number than the thousands on watch lists covered under Feinstein’s proposal.
“There is a solution here and I’m committed to finding it, but to find that solution we have to come together instead of having competing proposals that have already mostly failed in this chamber when we took these votes back in December,” she said. “Let’s put aside the gamesmanship and come together to get a proposal that will be effective and get a result for the American people.”