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White House News
President Obama Blasts Senate For 4 Failed Gun Control Actions
Four Gun Control Measures Rejected By Senate
In the wake of the worst mass murder in the history of the United States, the U. S. senate rejected four gun con- trol measures – two sponsored by Republicans, two by democ- rats – on Monday, ending an- other attempt to expand background checks and stop people on terror watch lists from getting guns.
Last week, Democrats forced the issue after a 15-hour filli- buster in the Senate but there were dim prospects that any of the amendments would pass as Democrats saw Republican compromises as little effort and refused to budge from their positions.
The filibuster by Democrats was in response to the murder of 49 people at the Pulse Night- club in Orlando. That action was led by Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut who also invoked the victims of the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Two Senators, John Cornyn and Dianne Fein- stein, tried to find a compro- mise on the amendment to an terror suspects from buying guns, but in the end both par- ties put forth their own ver- sions of the amendments, which fell on party lines.
The Amendments
Amendment by Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut that would require
The gun the Orlando shooter used was a Sig Sauer MCX, not an AR-15. That doesn’t change much.
background checks for all gun sales (including private sales and sales online) and improve information in the National In- stant Criminal Background Check System. Failed to pass, 44-56.
Amendment by Judiciary Committee Chairman, Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, that would boost funds for the National Instant Criminal Background Check system and ensure that the correct records are uploaded into the system in a timely manner. Would also clarify language surrounding mental health issues that would disqualify someone from buying a gun. Failed to pass, 53-47.
Amendment by Democratic
Senator Dianne Feinstein
of California that would let the government bar sales of guns and explosives to people it sus- pects of being terrorists. Would have affected anyone on the terrorist watch list or any-
one who had been investigated in connection with terrorism over the past five years. Fein- stein offered a similar amend- ment in December a day after an extremist couple killed 14 people in San Bernardino, Cal- ifornia, but the Republican-run senate rejected the proposal on a near party-line vote. Failed to psas, 47-53.
Amendment by Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas that would allow the government to delay a gun sale to a suspected terrorist for 72 h ours but require prosecutors to go to court to show probably cause to block the sale perma- nently. Failed to pass 53-47.
"Senate Republicans ought to be embarrassed, but they're not, because the NRA is happy", Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D- Nev.).
"Republicans need to put the lives of innocent Americans ahead of the NRA".
President Obama and V. P. Joe Biden at the makeshift memo- rial for the victims of the Orlando massacre.
President Barack Obama
blasted the Senate for blocking four votes on gun control measures, considered in the wake of the Orlando nightclub massacre, in which a shooter killed 49 people and injured 53 others.
He tweeted: ‘Gun violence requires more than moments of silence. It requires action. In failing that test, the Senate failed the American people.’
One doomed measure would have closed the so-called gun show loophole by extending the background check require-
ment to people looking to buy firearms at shows and on the internet.
Another failed bill would have blocked the sale of guns to people on a terrorist watch list for 72 hours while the gov- ernment tries to prove, via the court system, that the person is a terrorist threat.
A third proposal would have barred anyone on a terrorist watch list from buying a gun, and a fourth would have in- creased the resources available to prosecutors for violators of gun laws.
House Democrats Stage Sit-In On Gun Control Measures
Democratic members of Congress, including Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., center, and Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-Conn. participate in sit-down protest Wednesday on the floor of the House.
Democrats staged a sit-in on the House floor Wednesday, demanding House Speaker Paul Ryan allow a vote on gun control measures.
Led by Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a civil rights icon who marched with the Rev. Mar- tin Luther King Jr., several dozen lawmakers sat down on the floor in the well in at the front of the chamber, refusing to leave until they get a vote.
"We have turned deaf ears to the blood of the innocent and the deaths in our nation," Lewis said. "Mr. Speaker,
where is the heart of this body. Where is our soul?"
"How many more mothers, how many more fathers have to share tears of grief before we decide to do anything?" he asked.
The action follows last week's filibuster in the Senate. All four amendments -- two from Democrats and two from Republicans -- were voted down Monday, but a biparti- san group of lawmakers led Sen. Susan Collins, R- Maine, has introduced com- promise legislation they hope
will move the issue forward. The House rules, however, do not allow for a filibuster, so lawmakers there staged a sit- in occupation instead -- a rare
event.
Ryan has the authority to
direct the House sergeant at arms to clear the floor, but so far, he is allowing the action to go forward, possibly wary of the poor optics of removing Lewis – whose history of civil disobedience is universally lauded – and his colleagues by force.
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