Gun measures may be in jeopardy in Congress

Gun-control measures that seemed destined to become law after the school shootings in Newtown, Conn., are in jeopardy amid a fierce lobbying campaign by firearms advocates. Despite months of negotiations, key senators have been unable to find a workable plan for near-universal background checks on gun purchases — an idea that polls show nine in 10 Americans support. Another provision that garnered bipartisan support — making gun trafficking a federal crime — could be gutted if Republican lawmakers accept new language being circulated by the National Rifle Association. The failure of those two measures would be a major setback for the White House and its allies, who have acknowledged that two other proposals — bans on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines — are not politically viable.  President Obama plans to visit a police academy in Colorado on Wednesday to renew an urgency to overhaul the nation’s gun laws that has ebbed in the more than 100 days since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School.  Obama and his allies have not been able to leverage nationwide support for the proposals into a will to pass them on Capitol Hill. And a television ad campaign targeting 13 senators, financed by New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (I) and in its second week on the air, has not swayed enough lawmakers to ensure passage of the background-check measure...more

 Let's not forget Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima, and Mayors Joe Murrieta of Grants, Ray Alborn of Ruidoso, David Coss of Santa Fe, Darren Cordova of Taos, Albert Campos, Jr. of Santa Rosa, Barbara Cottam of Angel Fire and Gloria J. Chavez of Tijeras are members of Bloomberg's Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the group sponsoring the television ads.

Read on down in the article and you will find this jewel:
 
“If there was a secret-ballot vote it would pass overwhelmingly, because from a substantive point of view most of these senators understand that this is the right thing to do,” said Matt Bennett, a gun-control advocate and senior vice president at Third Way, a centrist think tank. “What’s holding them back is pure politics.”

Apparently listening to your constituents during the Easter recess is "pure politics", while negotiating with paid DC lobbyists is what?...statesmanship?  That, Mr. Bennett and the rest of you DC Deep Thinkers is:

I believe Senator Pryor has a better understanding of our system and how it should work. 

Now some of the same senators targeted by the Bloomberg ads as potential gun-control supporters are showing greater skepticism about expanding checks. The group facing growing pressure from both sides includes a handful of Democrats who will be up for reelection in 2014 in conservative states with strong traditions of gun ownership: Mark Begich (Alaska), Mark Pryor (Ark.), Mary Landrieu (La.), Max Baucus (Mont.), Kay Hagan (N.C.) and Mark R. Warner (Va.). Pryor, for instance, responded tersely to Bloomberg’s ads, saying last week: “I don’t take gun advice from the mayor of New York City. I listen to Arkansans.”