A gridlocked Senate failed to pass all four gun control measures introduced in response to the worst mass shooting in US history on Monday.
While lawmakers are likely to revisit gun control in the future, this legislative failure reflects the unwillingness of elected officials to break away from their respective party orthodoxies and come together on any issues. Republicans who have traditionally opposed tightening restrictions on individuals buying firearms have become open to expanding background checks, but not enough to initiate substantial change. House Speaker Paul Ryan is correct to say attacking the Second Amendment will do nothing to stop terrorism, but lawmakers are dooming their own political futures by taking no action.
Gun Control Defeated In The Senate
Republican and Democratic senators voted along party lines to block each other’s bills on Monday. According to conservative lawmakers, preventing another mass shooting means stepping up the fight on terror, not gun control.
“Our colleagues want to make this about gun control when what we should be making this about is the fight to eliminate the Islamic extremism that is the root cause for what happened in Orlando,” said Sen. John Cornyn.
Democratic Senator Barbara Mikulski fired back, drawing comparisons to laws prevent terrorists from boarding a plane.
“Why is it we would go through such incredible scrutiny to board an airplane to protect me against terrorist, and yet we have no scrutiny of the people on the terrorist watch list to be able to buy a gun?” she said.
The National Rifle Association, which recently endorsed Republican candidate Donald Trump for president, voiced concerns the bills put forward by the Democrats threaten the constitutional right to bear arms. Democrats said Republican proposals were too weak to stop another mass shooting from occurring.
Gun dealers are required to obtain a license from the federal government to sell their products. Individuals trying to buy firearms can be denied if they are deemed mentally unfit to own a weapon, or are guilty of serious crimes. However, there is no prohibition in place for people on the government’s terrorism watch list.
BBC News says gridlock is inevitable
ven if the Senate were to act, there are no indications that the House of Representatives…would even take a vote on such the bill. Unless this dynamic changes, and politicians begin to fear consequences at the November ballot box, the gun-regulation deadlock is likely to endure.
The Guardian says US faces gun violence epidemic
Mass shootings are a growing and alarming phenomenon in the US. By a purely numerical count, the United States has seen more than 1,000 mass shootings in 1,260 days. By a stricter definition, the number is smaller but still sobering: 19 public mass shootings since the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre in December of 2012.
Fox News says passing the bills would have done nothing
In Orlando on Thursday, President Obama again called on Congress to do something about these mass public shootings. But the dirty secret about the four different bills that the Senate will vote on Monday is that everyone knows that none of them would have stopped the Orlando massacre. Indeed, none of the bills would have stopped any of the mass public shootings since at least 2000.
Nwo Report 