Key Senate vote readies gun control showdown

Think nationally, nullify locally...

The United Sates Senate

Washington – Congressional gun control measures will likely focus on firearms, generally, rather than assault weapons, definitively.

Sixteen GOP Senators crossed party lines to vote 68-31 for a procedural vote that will bring debate to the Senate floor on a gun control bill highly touted by the President.

Majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nv) told reporters after the vote that the key to the new legislation will be an amendment to the bill requiring background checks of customers in all gun sales, be they conducted at gun shows, or on the internet, and appropriate records to prove to officials that the background checks actually took place.

As drafted, the bill will require a crackdown on straw purchases and beef up security in schools.

The background checks issue has been described by noted liberal Democrat Chuck Schumer (D-Ny) as the “sweet spot” in the measure, requiring increased gun control following the December attack at a Connecticut elementary school that left 20 children and 6 educators dead.

The proposed legislation contains no mention of “military style” assault weapons, so demonized by President Obama and Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Ca).

Relatives of the victims gathered in the Senate gallery to observe, and delivered a message to the Senators saying all who would contemplate a filibuster of the legislation should be “ashamed of their attempt to silence efforts to prevent the next American tragedy...”

The chamber caved in on a filibuster attempt accordingly.

He and Senator Reid said they expect the compromise amendment requiring background checks be worked out between Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa). An agreement on the amendment will require a 60-vote majority, as will passage of the bill to send it to the House in its final Senate form.

Democrats say they will need at least 5 Republican votes to send S. 649, the Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act, to the House of Representatives.

“The Hill” congressional newspaper described the Senators as “a centrist Democrat who has an 'A' rating from the NRA,” and a “conservative Republican.”

Psychiatric patients examined for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome and other combat-related problems today, Thursday, April 11, reported being asked if they have guns, or have plans to obtain them during interviews with staff psychiatrists at the Waco VA Medical Center.

Operatives at the Tenth Amendment Center, a font of model legislation designed to nullify objectionable federal controls on firearms, free speech, freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, and other constitutional issues, damned the Senate vote. One may read the model bill as written in the center's Second Amendment Preservation Act, presently working its way through the Texas Legislature, by clicking here.

Said Michael Boldin, “Joe Biden (vice president) wants to scare us all, telling us this is just the beginning on gun control. Well, I've got a message, too. Hey, Joe, let me say this as clearly as I can. Whatever you've got, we're going to nullify it.”

Mr. Boldin sent subscribers an emotional update today, saying it's best to forget there is a 202 area code, to “think nationally, nullify locally.”

Senator Manchin and Senator Toomey unveiled plans for a national commission on violence to study the problem of gun assaults. They announced it in a joint televised press conference.