The US Senate rejected Wednesday a bill amendment aimed at increasing the security of gun background checks, on what President Barack Obama described as "a shameful day for Washington." 
On April 10 Senator Pat Toomey, accompanying Senator Joe Manchin in announcing the amendment, said it aimed to make "it more difficult for criminals and mentally ill people to obtain guns".  The amendment would expand checks to sales online and at gun shows. 
The vote followed weeks of campaigning by the President, who was supported by a speech by First Lady Michelle Obama describing his proposed measures as "common sense."
The bill received only 54 of the required 60 votes to proceed, despite strong public support for tighter gun control in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting last year. Gun rights groups have campaigned strongly against the vote, claiming that the measures would violate constitutional rights, and targeting individual Senators with mocking material appearing online.  
Other proposed amendments to the bill which endeavoured to ban the sale of assault weapons like the one used in the Sandy Hook shooting and to place limits on the amount of ammunition which could be purchased in a single transaction also failed to garner sufficient votes.
An onlooker in the gallery shouted "Shame on you" as the result of the vote was announced. 
The President spoke to the press and spectators shortly after the vote was announced, passionately assuring his audience that he would continue to pursue measures to reduce the incidence of gun violence in the United States.

Have an opinion on this story? Share it!
Share this: 






This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Gun background checks a no-go in US Senate