Senators dealt a devastating blow to gun control efforts Wednesday, defeating the background check compromise that was the centerpiece of President Obama's post-Newtown push for stiffer laws and leaving advocates struggling to figure out what to do now.
We were all shocked by the terrible events at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Without reservation, Americans would embrace gun policy that could help prevent future tragedies from occurring. My concern is that many of the gun-control proposals are having an impact on the current level of gun ownership of law-abiding citizens.
Gun control supporters scrambled to find 60 votes to pass expanded background checks on firearms purchases, hoping to sway reluctant senators ahead of a showdown vote.
The Obama administration's all-out push for the Senate to move forward on gun control this week included a rare foray into the legislative arena by first lady Michelle Obama, who urged senators in an emotional plea not to filibuster the proposals.
With a Senate gun-control showdown looming, Sens. Joe Manchin and Pat Toomey have reached a deal on background checks for firearm purchases, NBC News reported Wednesday morning.
Vice President Joseph R. Biden tried to shame senators Tuesday into supporting the administration's new gun-control measures, accusing opponents of failing to understand the pain of parents who lost children in the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre.
As a fellow New Jersey native, I thoroughly enjoyed Rich Valdes' honest and unvarnished observation of the current gun control debate ("The A-list on Americanism: Gun reform or people reform?" Web, Wednesday).
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.
With his calls for gun control faltering in Washington, President Obama on Monday traveled to Connecticut, the site of December's school shooting rampage, to portray this week's potential Senate showdown as a choice between saving children's lives or caving to special-interest gun lobbies.
