After the Orlando shooting last week, both the Republican and Democratic parties created gun measures that would integrate increased background checks for gun sales, and also prohibit gun sales to people who are suspected terrorists. Unfortunately, the Senate somehow decided to reject the proposals despite the fact that the worst mass shooting in U.S. history occurred just days ago, and that the gunman responsible was legally sold weapons despite being on the terrorist watch list. It’s basically the ultimate show of Congressional inaction.
According to USA Today “an NBC News/Survey Monkey online poll conducted after the Orlando massacre last week found 61 percent of those surveyed support stricter gun laws; 38 percent opposed them. The survey also found 60 percent support a ban on ‘assault weapons’ and 38 percent oppose it.” The four measures were responding to the public’s obvious concern for their safety.
The first measure would have increased funding for the background check system and supported research on mass shootings. While the second measure would also benefit the background check system, it also proposed to monitor private gun sales over the internet. The third and fourth measures would work to delay or ultimately stop gun sales to suspected terrorists, while still allowing that person an appeal.
The issue with the proposed measures (and ultimately why they were rejected by the Senate) is that the Republican created bills were off-putting to Democrats, and the Democratic bills were limiting to Republicans. This same problem occurred previously after the shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., where proposed gun control measures were rejected due to lack of total support.
Unsurprisingly, the stance on gun control taken by the two parties also reflects the stance of our 2016 Presidential candidates: Donald Trump wants to preserve the right to gun use while Hilary Clinton is advocating for more gun control. Our 54 Republicans and 46 Democrats just can’t seem to agree. Americans want to maintain their rights, but there’s no denying that this country is not safe under the current gun control measures.
On Wednesday, Democrats in the House of Representatives started a sit-in to demand a vote on the same gun control measures, according to NBC. That story is still developing.