Republican Senators voted down 4 separate bills yesterday that would have stopped suspected terrorists from buying guns. The bills would also have closed some of the loopholes that let people buy guns online and at gun shows without background checks.
Unbelievable!
RawStory reports that the internet reacted with bipartisan disgust against the Senate. GOP members in particular were targeted by those on Twitter and Facebook.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell(R-Ky) came in at the top of the list for some of the most anger. McConnell had chastised Democrats for trying to create the next “30 second ad” following the Orlando shooting.
After the Senate failed to pass any of the 4 bills, public outrage was overwhelming.
Shame on them! Vote them OUT! SENATE FAILS: GUN CONTROL BILLS GO DOWN https://t.co/KB34A111Xv via @HuffPostPol
— chris klapper (@chrisklapper) June 20, 2016
It's to be expected that the #GOP would side with the #NRA. But with people on the FBI terror watch list?? https://t.co/BHpxGHi9mo
— Michael Marder (@michael_marder) June 21, 2016
Many of the tweets used the phrase “they have blood on their hands.” Some of them referred to the family members of shooting victims. Many of those family members were in the Senate gallery. Waiting. Hoping for some progress at last, only to be disappointed once again.
Make the @GOP pay for this. They have blood on their hands. https://t.co/SZJ3vYnHJx
— Tyler Thurston (@reedthurston) June 20, 2016
Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn) held a nearly fifteen hour filibuster on the Senate floor earlier in the week to force the debate on the bills that came up on Monday. The Senator’s district in Connecticut includes Newtown, where 20 young elementary school students were slaughter by a gunman in 2014. Without his filibuster, the gun bills were not even scheduled for any discussion.
After the defeat of all 4 gun bills, Murphy said:
“I’m mortified by today’s vote but I’m not surprised by it. The NRA has a vice-like grip on this place.”
Perhaps the strongest verbal reaction came from outspoken Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Ma). She quickly took to Twitter after the votes, expressing her deep frustration and anger at her Republican colleagues.
.@ChrisMurphyCT said it right: The @SenateGOP have decided to sell weapons to ISIS.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) June 20, 2016
Ashamed & disgusted that the Senate works for the @NRA & not the majority of Americans who support basic solutions to stop gun violence.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) June 20, 2016
Senator Warren is right. There is absolutely no justification for what happened yesterday. Even two Republican bills could not get enough votes to pass in the Senate.
So nothing has changed. For now anyone who wants to avoid a background check can just go online and get an AR-15. Anyone can just stop at a gun show and grab themselves a semi-automatic.
The U.S. Senate is not even willing to say that people being investigated for possible terrorism should be kept from owning guns.
What kind of crazy does it take to think we should ban every single Muslim in the world from coming here, but we’re willing to let anybody buy any weapon at any time for any purpose?
What kind of cowardice does it take for the Senate to continue ignoring the pile of slaughtered innocents that lies at their feet?
Featured image via Wikipedia
