Friday, April 19, 2013

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pledges to revive gun bill that was declared dead

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Thursday yanked from the Senate floor gun control legislation that suffered a serious setback a day earlier, pledging to revive the bill that many lawmakers have already declared dead.  "Make no mistake, this debate is not over," Reid, D-Nev., said Thursday after lawmakers voted down a string of amendments to the bill. "In fact, this fight is just beginning." President Obama and gun control advocates suffered a serious setback Wednesday when the Senate defeated an amendment that would have allowed a limited expansion of background checks for gun buyers. That amendment was supposed to make the overall gun control legislation more palpable to Republicans and conservative Democrats, and when it was defeated, the bill was considered doomed. Reid said he first consulted with Obama before moving to table the gun legislation, a procedural move that will make it easier for him to bring it back to the floor at a later date. In the meantime, Reid said, proponents of the bill, including Obama, will try to rally greater public support for the measure to turn up the pressure on lawmakers to pass it. Victims of some of the nation's most recent mass shootings will help lobby for the measure. This will allow senators to keep negotiating," Reid said...more

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