A polarized Senate Thursday voted down a bill that would have made it harder for suspected terrorists to buy firearms, according to Fox News. The political standoff continues as the Senate continues to vote within its party line, even with the growing number of mass shootings across the nation, as well as the looming threats of terrorist groups.
Among those who opposed the Manchin-Toomey Gun Control Bill proposal was Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, who said the bill "won't prevent the next shooting or reduce crime or fix our mental-health system," according to the National Journal.
The Senate also voted down a second gun bill, introduced by Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, which would have allowed the government to delay firearm sales to suspected terrorists up to 72 hours so the transaction could be halted permanently if a judge could be persuaded to do so by federal officials. Others who helped craft the gun-control legislation included Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virgina.
While the Democrats claim Cornyn's proposal was a sham, enabling gun purchases to continue as usual, the Republicans feared the Manchin-Toomey Gun Control Bill would deny people the right to own firearms due to the Republican party's suspicion that the current terror-watch list includes people that do not belong on there, thus denying them their right to own a gun.
"This is the most common-sense [bill] supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans and a majority of law-abiding gun owners in America.... Please support this," said Manchin. "It's basically something that's long, long overdue."
