UPDATE: 5:30 PM EST
President Barack Obama spoke to the nation from the Rose Garden right after the U.S. Senate failed to pass legislation that would strengthen gun background checks.
“90% of the American people support universal background checks that make it harder for a dangerous person to buy a gun,” he said.
“Instead of supporting this compromise, the gun lobby and its allies willfully lied about the bill.”
He also added that none of the Senators who opposed the bill offered any good reasons why they wouldn’t want it to be difficult to purchase a firearm.
“This was a pretty shameful day for Washington. But this effort isn’t over.”
He also said that the minority in Senate decided it wasn’t worth it to protect children’s lives.
“I see this as just round one…We are going to get this done, we are going to get this right,” he said.
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Just when you thought gun control advocates were making progress, a flip-flop from U.S. Senators wiped away a chance at curbing gun violence.
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Today, as the Senate began voting on nine proposed changes to a gun control bill, the main legislation that would strengthen gun background checks quickly fell short of the 60 votes it needed.
Despite major public backing and a handful of gun violence victims and their families watching on, Republican and Democrat senators came up with a 56 (favor) to 46 (against) vote.
Four Democrats voted no to the bill and surprisingly, four Republicans voted yes.
Just before Vice President Joe Biden read the count, survivors from the Tuscon shooting could be heard yelling:
“Shame on you!”
Those women, Patricia Maisch and Lori Haas, were escorted from the Capitol. In the 2011 shooting, Maisch successfully knocked a large ammunition magazine out of the hands of Jared Loughner, after he shot former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and other bystanders.
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“They are an embarrassment to this country, that they don’t have any compassion or care for people who have been taken brutally from their families,” Maisch said as officers attempted to remove her from the building. “I hate them,” she said of the senators.
A shame. This might be two steps back, but we won’t give up the fight on tougher gun control laws. We’re with you, ladies!
SOURCE: Washington Post
