On Monday, the Senate considered four measures to revamp gun laws — two put forth by Democrats and two by Republicans — and each failed to get the 60 votes needed to progress. All four votes were mostly along party lines, as each party staked out its ground after the Orlando nightclub mass shooting and before November elections. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Democrats, who had demanded the votes on gun control measures, were pushing a "partisan agenda." Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), saying that 90 percent of Americans support expanded background checks, shot back that "Senate Republicans ought to be embarrassed, but of course they're not — they're not embarrassed because the NRA is happy."
Senators voted 47-53 against a measure from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) that would have allowed the attorney general to block suspected terrorists from purchasing guns and explosives, and 53-47 for an alternate proposal from Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) that would let officials delay a gun sale to a suspected terrorist for three days while a judge considered blocking the sale. The Senate also rejected a Democratic-backed measure to require background checks for all gun sales or transfers, including at gun shows, 44-56, and 53-47 for a GOP alternative from Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) that merely increased funding for federal background checks and also tweaked language that bans some people with mental health issues from buying guns. Each vote was mostly along party lines.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is working on one more proposal that would block people on two specific FBI terrorist watch lists from buying firearms and alert the FBI if someone on either the "no fly list" or "selectee list" in the past five years tried to buy a gun. Some moderates in both parties are participating in talks on the Collins measure. You can watch Democrats respond to the four votes on Monday in a vide from The Associated Press below. Peter Weber
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