White House slams Senate's 'cowardice' in gun votes

The Senate fails to pass gun control measures.
(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The Senate rejected four gun control measures Monday in a move the White House lambasted as a "shameful display of cowardice." Senators "continue to protect a loophole to allow individuals suspected of terrorism to buy a gun," press secretary Josh Earnest said on CNN on Tuesday, referring to one of the blocked measures. "Right now, according to loopholes protected by Republicans, those individuals can walk into a gun store and buy a gun."

Earnest emphasized that the Obama administration is not interested in hampering Second Amendment rights, or in preventing the military and law enforcement from being "well-armed," but rather in closing a loophole that "doesn't make any sense." "We're not suggesting that a law-abiding American citizen should not be able to buy a gun," Earnest said. "We believe our military should be well-armed. We believe our law enforcement should be well-armed. We don't believe we're going to pass a law that's going to prevent every act of gun violence."

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