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Democrats’ Filibuster on Gun Control.

Chris Murphy.

Chris Murphy.

There’s a glimmer of hope that the tiniest shred of gun control legislation might pass the Senate in response to the Orlando shooting that left 49 people dead.

After nearly 15 hours of talking on the Senate floor, the filibuster held by Democrats on Wednesday and into the early hours of Thursday has apparently been a success, and there will be two votes on gun control measures.

The two ideas — stopping people on the terrorist watch list from buying guns, and requiring background checks even when someone purchases a gun online or at a gun show instead of in a store — will be allowed votes by the full Senate, Democrats say.

“We chose to ask for the two least controversial provisions possible that will still do a world of good,” said Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, home to the Newtown mass shooting that killed 20 children and six adults. He spoke from the Senate floor and announced Republicans had agreed “on a path to get those votes.”

With the Senate controlled by Republicans, it’s essentially up to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky on whether any piece of legislation gets a vote. So Democrats, led by Murphy, filibustered an existing funding bill, called the Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies appropriations bill. It worked, and now they must focus on winning enough votes to pass the laws.

“Least controversial provisions”. I can’t get past that, nor can I muster up even a tiny bit of hope. Yes, this might help, a teeny, tiny bit, if these actually make it through, but I am so fucking sick and tired of every single sensible person in uStates feeling the need to walk on tiptoes on eggshells, so as not to upset all the gun fetishists. FFS, wouldn’t this normally be called terrorism, where people are scared to death of those with weapons? A good portion of uStates is being held hostage, and nothing is going to be done, unless it’s a tiny, marginally effective sop.

Full Story Here.

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Comments

  1. says

    My only issue, and I can’t believe I’m with the Republicans on this, is that they want to tie it in to the horribly unjust and anti-civil liberty no fly list.

  2. says

    I think the whole no fly list is idiotic anyway. It’s being used because it’s one of the only ways to try and slip any control legislation by.

  3. johnson catman says

    It still makes no sense to me that a person does not have to prove any type of knowledge or proficiency with guns prior to buying or “operating” one. FFS, less than a hundred years ago, anyone could drive a car without any type of license, but the sensible solution when they became more common was to register cars and require insurance and licenses to operate them. There are no mass protests about people’s “right to drive” being infringed. I know driving is not mentioned in the Constitution, but would it be so bad to make sure that guns were regulated (OH NO!) like motor vehicles?

  4. says

    There are no mass protests about people’s “right to drive” being infringed.

    No mass protests, but there is an anti-driving license crowd out there (libertarians, of course).

  5. blf says

    I thought the anti–driving license kooks were mostly “sovereign citizen” wackos, albeit that, I’m guessing, has a large overlap with liberkleptoism.

  6. themann1086 says

    I’ve heard that any bill which prohibits people on the no-fly list from buying guns would include amendments to significantly improve it from a due process perspective, since a significant faction of Democrats have favored that for a while and GOPers will want to change it now that the only right they care about will be impacted. Assuming this is true, that bill would be a double win.

  8. blf says

    As I predicted there is very little chance of anything happening despite the “agreement” / fillibuster, Gun control vote in Senate unlikely to produce Republican compromise:

    After successful filibuster to procure vote, Democrats’ proposals on universal background checks and terror watch lists will be met with competing measures

    Republicans have signaled that they will not compromise on gun control measures, despite a nearly 15-hour filibuster by Senate Democrats protesting congressional inaction on the issue.
    […]
    Democrats were able to secure a vote on two proposals — one to implement universal background checks and another that would bar suspected terrorists on the FBI watch list from purchasing firearms.

    But the Republicans who control the Senate said they would offer their own competing measures, meaning any vote would likely be split along party lines and thus ultimately fail.

    The Senate held a similar vote in December following the massacre in San Bernardino, California […]. Then, too, not a single amendment met a 60-vote threshold needed to advance.
    […]
    [The thugs’s] proposal would enable the FBI to delay individuals on the watch list from buying a gun for 72 hours, during which period they would need to prove to a judge that there was probable cause to bar them from purchasing a firearm.

    My added boldfacing.

    Chuck Schumer, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, [said] “It’s a way for them to say they’re doing something when they’re doing nothing. […] It’s a way for them to pay obeisance to the NRA without changing the world as it is.”
    […]
    On background checks, the Democrats’ plan would require them on all gun sales except for loans or gifts between family members. Republicans have instead proposed legislation that would encourage better prosecution of background check violations but not expand the screening process in any way.
    […]

    As an aside, note the vote will be on using the FBI’s “watch list”, not the “no fly” list. According to the article, the watch list is broader than the no fly list. I have no idea to what extent the watch list conflicts with civil liberties (as noted by others, the no fly list has a bad problem here!).

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