This morning, I tip my hat to Senator Chris Murphy. Well done, sir, well done. And, yes, this is only the first step in a very long journey. Sen. Murphy, you make us proud to be Democrats and Americans. Thank you.
I disagree. Vote now and run the NOs into the ground between now and November.
C’mon GOP–you can do it. Just think of the LGBT community as an AR-15. Put your arms around it and give it a big hug.
I’m going to agree – and so long as we don’t let up and allow folks to get distracted, this could be one blowout year.
The filibuster doesn’t guarantee legislation will pass, but it’s not nothing. It’s also possible that a recorded vote will make some rethink their stance. Some districts are safely red, but it’s getting harder for these douchebags to argue against at least closing some loopholes that allow terrorists and convicted criminals to get guns.
I disagree, for four reasons:
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We may have enough votes to get it passed!!
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Even if we don’t, standing on our convictions is worthy, no matter what the outcome.
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Even though these two efforts aren’t nearly enough, once a Republican senator has made a first effort to adopt common sense gun control legislation, it makes it easier to pressure them to take a second and third step.
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It’s politically smart. “Senator so-and-so enables potential terrorists getting guns” is a no-brainer campaign ad this fall.
Calgary Cruz, this is an example of an excellent use of a filibuster by a conscientious Senator. Take your green salmonella-infected eggs & trichinosis ham and jam it somewhere.
Bravo Senator Murphy!
The “tell” of where Republican loyalties lie in in their defense of selling automatic weapons to people on no-fly lists.
Glad there is inchoate movement from the D’s here. Frankly, it’s a winning issue. A majority supports some measure of gun sanity, and people are finally starting to get pissed.
Now get it passed! Need to get all Democrats to vote yes, and try to peel off a few semi-sane Republicans.
Democrats should take a page from the anti-abortion crowd, and reframe this legislation as “anti-terrorist” (or something along those lines), rather than “gun control.”
Good point. Packaging matters.
Donald Trump is such an INCREDIBLE DEALMAKER! He will solve this because he went to an IVY LEAGUE SCHOOL and he has words – he has GREAT WORDS. He’s got the BEST SOLUTIONS! Because he is smart – let me tell you: really, REALLY smart. He’ll get the NRA to agree to a one-year trial of an AR-15 ban – because that’s what he does: HE DEALS MAKE DEALS!!! The BEST deals. All the Republicans up for re-election in purple or red states will vote for the ONE-YEAR ban, and be re-elected, and then THEY WON’T VOTE FOR A PERMANENT BAN IN 2017 because IT WON’T WORK! That’s why we call it the ART OF THE DEAL – with an emphasis on the artful part.
And that has been the problem.
We are motivated and our passion burns hot after each of these gun atrocities… for a while. Then life intrudes and we go about our lives once again.
The passions of gun owners, whipped up by the NRA and being fearful we are going to burst into their homes and seize their weapons, do not abate.
Only if we can break this cycle will something meaningful happen.
This is a good start, but it is only that. Can we, will we, be unrelenting “this” time?
Very important idea. Also, if the Pubbies actually accept going through the voting process and it is passed, be sure to give the Pubbies many thank yous for finally accepting what the Democrats have said was necessary for a long time. Of course, Pubbies who oppose the bill can be asked why they support the idea of selling guns to terrorists with no questions asked.
You nailed two particularly vexing problems we’ve had for a long time. Somehow, we’ve got to break the “habit” of losing interest, of allowing the “normalization” of this type of violence to call the shots.
I don’t have the answer to your question except to say that I’ll do my part and remind others to do theirs as well.
Sens. Bob Casey (D-PA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) were among the 38 Democrats who joined Murphy on the Senate floor to voice support for stricter gun control regulations.
This isn’t inaccurate on the facts, but it does ignore the participation by Senator Angus King (I-ME), and even more notably, 2 Republicans. While I’ve no problem thinking re-election played into Senator Toomey’s calculus, Senator Sasse of Nebraska was elected in 2014 - he’s no-where near re-election.
I’m almost afraid to hope that we’ve found ourselves a unicorn - a reasonable Republican on gun control. Whatever the reason, though, I’d like to thank Senators King, Toomey, and Sasse for participating, and hope we can continue to count on their support on this, moving forward. It doesn’t matter why they vote to support this, only that they do.
Yeah, how about pro-life?
With our voices and our votes maybe this time we can.