ThinkProgress: A bipartisan duo of senators with A ratings from the National Rifle Associated have reached a deal to expand background checks to private gun purchases that occur in commercial settings.
Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Pat Toomey (R-PA) will announce the
details of the plan during a press conference Wednesday morning.
Currently, only federally licensed gun dealers are required to conduct
background screenings.
Under the Manchin-Toomey agreement,
background checks will occur for sales conducted at gun shows, online,
and through public advertisements with full record keeping, which
advocates see as essential for enforcement and tracing crime guns.
Friend-to-friend and family sales will be exempt from the requirement.
And while the plan stops short of the far more expansive background
check provision offered by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) — that measure
would have extended background checks to all gun sales outside of close
family transfers — the new agreement builds momentum for reform and may
come as a blow to the 14 conservatives who have pledged to block debate
of any new gun regulations.
And what about those 14 blood lobby puppets who’ve vowed to filibuster any gun regulation — how’s that going?
Talking Points Memo: Numerous
Republicans said Tuesday they won’t vote to block gun control
legislation from reaching the floor, making Senate Democrats
increasingly optimistic that they’ll have the necessary votes to begin
debating their bill, even though final passage remains uncertain.
Early in the day, Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) told CBS he won’t filibuster the bill.
In the Capitol, Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
reaffirmed that they’ll vote to begin debate on the bill. Sen. Tom
Coburn told TPM he’ll also vote for the motion to proceed to debate.
Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), Dean Heller (R-NV) and Susan Collins (R-ME)
similarly told reporters they won’t filibuster debate on the legislation.
“I do not understand — it’s incomprehensible to me that we would not
move forward with debate and amendments on an issue this important to
the American people,” said McCain.
“My hope is that we can
have a full and open debate with amendments, and if that occurs then I
will certainly vote to proceed,” said Collins.
So
long story short, that filibuster’s over with before it ever began. The
vote on the legislation could still go either way — I haven’t seen a
whip count yet — but the fact that supporters of common sense gun
regulation have gotten this far has got to worry the NRA. As I keep
saying, we don’t have to win every battle, we just have to keep
fighting.
