Gun control bid fizzles out in US Congress

WASHINGTON—Another attempt at gun control fell short in the US Congress on Thursday despite outrage at the Orlando massacre, as senators failed to back a proposed ban on firearms sales to people being monitored for links to terrorism.

It was the latest setback for proponents of gun restrictions who have been thwarted for years on Capitol Hill by gun rights defenders and the National Rifle Association.

A few hours after Democratic lawmakers ended a rowdy sit-in protest in the House of Representatives over guns, Senate Republican leaders closed a protracted debate over gun control, until at least after the July 4 holiday.

They argued that Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, could not get enough sup- port for a proposal to forbid gun sales to anyone on the US government’s “No Fly List” for terrorism suspects or the “Selectee List” of people who receive extra security screening at airports.

“Eventually this problem will get addressed again one of two ways: We find a breakthrough, which I will seek, or there will be another terrorist attack which will bring us right back to this issue. I hope we can do it without another terrorist attack,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican who supported Collins.

The many efforts at gun control have failed despite anger at mass shootings like the killings at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012 and in San Bernardino, California, last year.