SALON

Wednesday, Apr 17, 2013 8:56 PM UTC

GOP filibuster kills background checks

The "compromise" on gun reform supported by 90 percent of country dies in Senate after failing to secure 60 votes

By

Topics: Guns, Gun Control, Filibuster, U.S. Senate,

GOP filibuster kills background checks (Credit: Reuters/Larry Downing)

The bipartisan compromise proposal to expand background checks to more gun sales died in the Senate this afternoon after the bipartisan majority fell far short of the 60 votes needed to break a Republican filibuster on the bill. The vote was 54-46. While advocates thought they might be only two votes away not long ago, the six vote deficit makes it highly unlikely that the majority will ever secure the votes it needs. If Republicans had not filibustered, the measure would have passed, as final passage requires only 50 votes (plus the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Joe Biden).

The proposal, authored by Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, was the best shot at passing any kind of expansion on background checks, even though it was far weaker than what Democrats and gun safety advocates had hoped for. But opponents of the bill deliberately misrepresented the bill by claiming it could lead to a national gun registry, which many gun advocates fear could lead to confiscation or even tyranny, even though the Manchin-Toomey proposal actually made it a felony for officials to create a registry.

And while the votes in the Senate don’t suggest it, around 90 percent of Americans support an expansion of background checks, making it hard for some to believe that Republicans would vote against it, let alone filibuster the bill. But filibuster they did, even as victims of the Sandy Hook shooting sat in the gallery and watched. One woman yelled “shame on you” after the fate of the bill became clear.

Manchin-Toomey was likely headed for death in the House anyway, but it’s still a huge defeat for gun safety advocates, who thought background checks were almost a sure thing just a few months ago.

Four conservative Democrats joined Republicans on the vote: Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Mark Begich of Alaska, Max Baucus of Montana and newly elected Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota. The liberal Progressive Change Campaign Committee has already vowed to run ads in their state shaming them for their vote and other liberal groups decried them for their “cowardly” vote, as Democracy for America put it.

Alex Seitz-Wald

Alex Seitz-Wald is Salon's political reporter. Email him at aseitz-wald@salon.com, and follow him on Twitter @aseitzwald. More Alex Seitz-Wald.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • This photo. President Barack Obama has a laugh during the unveiling of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Tx., Thursday. Former first lady Barbara Bush, who candidly admitted this week we've had enough Bushes in the White House, is unamused.
    Reuters/Jason Reed

  • Rescue workers converge Wednesday in Savar, Bangladesh, where the collapse of a garment building killed more than 300. Factory owners had ignored police orders to vacate the work site the day before.
    AP/A.M. Ahad

  • Police gather Wednesday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to honor campus officer Sean Collier, who was allegedly killed in a shootout with the Boston Marathon bombing suspects last week.
    AP/Elise Amendola

  • Police tape closes the site of a car bomb that targeted the French embassy in Libya Tuesday. The explosion wounded two French guards and caused extensive damage to Tripoli's upscale al-Andalus neighborhood.
    AP/Abdul Majeed Forjani

  • Protestors rage outside the residence of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday following the rape of a 5-year-old girl in New Delhi. The girl was allegedly kidnapped and tortured before being abandoned in a locked room for two days.
    AP/Manish Swarup

  • Clarksville, Mo., residents sit in a life boat Monday after a Mississippi River flooding, the 13th worst on record.
    AP/Jeff Roberson

  • Workers pause Wednesday for a memorial service at the site of the West, Tx., fertilizer plant explosion, which killed 14 people and left a crater more than 90 feet wide.
    AP/The San Antonio Express-News, Tom Reel

  • Aerial footage of the devastation following a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in China's Sichuan province last Saturday. At least 180 people were killed and as many as 11,000 injured in the quake.
    AP/Liu Yinghua

  • On Wednesday, Hazmat-suited federal authorities search a martial arts studio in Tupelo, Miss., once operated by Everett Dutschke, the newest lead in the increasingly twisty ricin case. Last week, President Barack Obama, Sen. Roger Wicker, R.-Miss., and a Mississippi judge were each sent letters laced with the deadly poison.
    AP/Rogelio V. Solis

  • The lighting of Freedom Hall at the George W. Bush Presidential Center Thursday is celebrated with (what else but) red, white and blue fireworks.
    AP/David J. Phillip

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 122 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
“This could be a career ender for Michele Bachmann”
194 points195 points | 88 comments
vote
"Contrary to the myth of the happy, apple-cheeked great-great-grandmother, cooking has rarely been seen as a source of fulfillment, historically speaking." DIY domesticity, femivores, and refutations on the impacts of feminism on fast-food culture.
48 points49 points | 36 comments
vote
Are millennials delusional? New research suggests that members of "Generation Me" are warped by a profound sense of entitlement
35 points36 points | 36 comments
vote
6 insidious ways you’re getting ripped off … And how to fight back
27 points28 points | 4 comments
vote
Today's Teens more Materialistic, Less Likely to Work Hard, according to study in "Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin"
26 points27 points | 7 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "The Shelter Cycle": Raised in a cult

Recommendations