By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
While President Obama keeps pounding away to get votes to pass gun restrictions in the Senate, pro-Second Amendment supporters are pushing the upper chamber in the opposite direction. Sen. Tom Coburn introduced two amendments to strengthen the rights of gun owners and keep the federal government in check.
Gun owners who cheered when the Senate failed to pass numerous anti-gun bills last week should temper their enthusiasm. The liberal wing of the Democratic party, led by President Obama and funded by New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, has already started to use the votes to oust pro-Second Amendment senators in 2014.
Lawmakers on both sides of a proposal to expand gun-purchase background checks to sales online and at gun shows said Sunday that they don't know whether it will pass — a hurdle that, if not cleared, likely would kill the prospects of significant gun control legislation on Capitol Hill.
The Senate on Thursday was scheduled to key test vote on whether to move forward with debate on wide-ranging gun control legislation that would set the stage for a bruising, potentially weeks-long floor battle four months after Connecticut's school shooting rampage.
Sen. Mark Kirk says the real driving force behind the gun deal that was hatched by bipartisan work was booze and boat retreats.
Senate Democrats have set Thursday as the date for the first major gun showdown in Congress since the Connecticut school shootings, saying they will put their gun control bill on the chamber floor and dare Republicans to filibuster it.
The range of gun-related legislation likely to pass the full Senate rounded into shape Wednesday, as lengthy bipartisan negotiations over universal background checks broke down and lawmakers offered a separate measure on mental illness just a day ahead of key committee votes.
Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont Democrat and Sen. Susan M. Collins, Maine Republican, announced new legislation on the Senate floor Monday that would make gun trafficking a federal crime and crack down on straw purchasing — one of the first bipartisan gun-related measures to be introduced after the Newtown, Conn., shootings in December.
Key Senators from both parties said Sunday that background checks on virtually all gun sales can win bipartisan support in the Senate, signaling progress on one of the key provisions of President Obama's gun control package.
After two years marked with partisan gridlock, the Senate kicked off the new Congress on Thursday with 13 new members and welcomed back Sen. Mark Kirk, who made an emotional return to the Capitol after suffering a stroke almost a year ago.
"The people of Egypt and apparently its army are mandating the fall of the Mubarak regime," Sen. Mark Steven Kirk, Illinois Republican, said in a floor speech on Feb. 2. "While we support human rights and democracy, we must heed growing warnings about the Muslim Brotherhood, their leaders and plans for taking Egypt back to the 13th century."
