By Phil Riske | Managing Editor, Rose Law Group Reporter
The Manchin-Toomey Background Checks Amendment on Wednesday went down 54-46 on a procedural vote, where Arizona’s Republic senators split their vote.
Sen. John McCain said he favors background checks for purchasing weapons, while Sen. Jeff Flake, who as been a target in pro-background checks TV ads, voted with the majority in blocking the bill. He said Monday on his Facebook page he opposes the amendment because he feels it goes too far.
“Just as I have long defended the Second Amendment to the Constitution, I have also long believed that it is perfectly reasonable to use available tools to conduct limited background checks, as this amendment prescribes, to help ensure that felons and the mentally-ill do not obtain guns they should not possess,” McCain said. “In my view, such background checks are not overly burdensome or unconstitutional.”
Arizona House Minority Leader Chad Campbell (D-Phoenix) said he was dismayed with Wednesday’s vote.
“I am still in shock that Senate can’t pass even weak gun background check bill. Anyone who voted against it needs to go now,” Campbell said.
Flanked by former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in the Rose Garden, an angry President Barack Obama says the Senate’s opposition to the bill that would have expanded background checks for gun buyers marks a “shameful day for Washington.” He says a minority of senators decided “it wasn’t worth it” to protect the nation’s children.
The president pinned the blame for the measures’ failure on Republicans, though five Democrats also opposed the plan.
Also: No danger found in suspicious mail sent to Sen. Flake’s office
