Another setback for gun control legislation
In Orlando, they continue to bury the dead. In Washington, they again buried gun control legislation.
No one should be the least bit surprised. We lost 49 lives when a madman armed with a semi-automatic rifle and handgun invaded the Pulse nightclub. It was horror, in the flesh. But it still was not enough to move our elected leaders to take action on reasonable gun control legislation.
Last Monday night four different measures got voted down in the Senate, for the most part along party lines.
Our Pennsylvania senators, Democrat Bob Casey and Republican Pat Toomey, voted as you might expect — Casey in favor, Toomey opposed.
Toomey, who finds himself increasingly in the spotlight as he faces a tough re-election fight in November in a state that has increasingly tilted Democratic in statewide races, was not surprised at the result. He believes the measures are flawed and is preparing his own legislation.
The truth is Toomey gets some leeway on the issue of guns. In the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, he put his backside on the line by reaching across the aisle and joining West Virginia Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin in a proposal to beef up background checks. It failed. Of course.
It has often been stated that if the nation — or at least Washington, D.C. — was not moved to act after the slaughter of those innocents in a New England classroom, we likely never will.
Spurred by the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, with the echoes of 49 dead and 53 injured in the Pulse nightclub still reverberating across the nation’s conscience.
Being considered were proposals to ban gun sales to a known or suspected terrorist, a push to close a loophole that skirts background checks on sales at gun shows and expanded background checks.
Toomey joined Republicans in opposition. Who could oppose gun sales to those on a terrorist watch list? Well, Toomey and Republicans instead wanted prosecutors to have to convince a judge within three days that the would-be buyer was in fact involved in terrorism.
Toomey did not try to sugar-coat what was going on. He noted early Monday afternoon that it was unlikely any of the measure would pass.
Democrat Bob Casey also reacted as you might expect, with the air of exasperation Democrats always invoke after such a vote.
“Tonight, the Senate defaulted on its basic obligation to keep America safe,” Casey said. “Universal background checks and a ban of those on the terrorist watchlist form buying guns represent the bare minimum steps the Senate should take to address gun violence.”
Toomey insists he has a better idea and will again push his own measure that includes expanded background checks.
The eyes of the nation, still welling with tears after the latest mass carnage, are now locked on Washington, D.C.
That glare is especially bright for Toomey, the firstterm Republican who faces a rough race against Democrat Katie McGinty in November.
Toomey is trying to carve out his own common-sense stance on the gun issue, while McGinty and others continue to bash him and other Republicans as self-serving pawns of the National Rifle Association.
Toomey voted in favor of the two Republican measures, and against the two Democratic bills. None of them passed.
He wants to see the bill he carved out with Democrat Manchin brought up for another vote in the Senate. We’ll see if he can deliver. As for the rest of the country? Well, you know the drill.
No one should be surprised that these four proposals all were voted down in the Senate. That is what we do in this country.
We are horrified at another mass shooting. We beg for action on guns. We watch as nothing gets done.
Then we wait for it all to happen again.
Mr. Toomey and his Republican colleagues in the Senate have the power to change that. We will be watching closely to see what happens.
It’s no doubt a tight spot for someone who faces a very tough re-election battle in just a fewmonths.
No one ever said the job was easy.
Neither is the thought of burying more gun victims after another mass shooting in this country.