Toomey and Casey Join Together on Gun Bill :: 06/27/2016

The latest chance to do something about gun violence may have just passed Congress by…again.

After a high-profile failure that led to a headline-grabbing sit-in, gun safety advocates rallied around a new measure. This amendment from Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine would have allowed the Justice Department to block those on terror watch list from purchasing firearms but also would’ve given them a chance to appeal and get off the list.

The Senate sought to table the motion and while they were unsuccessful, the vote didn’t reach the filibuster-proof threshold of 60. It still won bipartisan support, though, with eight Republicans joining the Democrats to reach 52 votes.

The eight GOP Senators were: Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Dan Coates of Indiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Mark Kirk of Illinois and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.

Democratic Senators Dianne Feinstein and Bernie Sanders missed the roll call but likely would’ve supported the measure, meaning the amendment’s ceiling was 54 votes.

“This is very, very frustrating,” Sen. Pat Toomey said of the effort. “When we run into our respective partisan corners and don’t get anything done, we are not serving people.”

“Senator Casey supported the bill and it was unfortunate that it was only given a table vote,” the Senator’s office told PoliticsPA. “He will continue to push for commonsense gun reform in order to save lives across the nation.”

http://www.politicspa.com/pa-sen-casey-and-toomey-join-together-on-gun-bill/76450/