The Truth About Tonight’s Terrorist Gun Loophole Votes

Republican bill called “wallpapering over the problem with a fake solution”

 

Following the tragedy in Orlando, Senate Democrats are taking action and renewing their efforts to pass a commonsense measure that would prevent suspected terrorists from purchasing firearms. Because of their powerful 15-hour filibuster last week, Senator Feinstein’s legislation, updated to ensure authorities are notified if anyone investigated for terrorism in the past five years tries to purchase a gun, will again receive a vote tonight on the Senate floor.

 

Unfortunately, Republicans have fallen back on the same misleading talking points and unacceptable excuses they used when 53 Republicans voted against this proposal in December. Once again, instead of taking meaningful action they are backing a bill that wouldn’t do enough to prevent terrorists from buying guns and has been described as “wallpapering over the problem with a fake solution.” Here are some facts about the GOP campaign to muddy the water:

 

• Despite GOP claims that the Democratic bill lacks due process protections, the bill in fact maintains the current due process process protections for anyone denied a firearm because of erroneous information, and establishes a straightforward process for anyone to provide correcting information or challenge a denial.
• The Republican bill that they claim would prevent suspected terrorists from purchasing firearms contains weak safeguards and would actually allow suspected terrorists to buy a gun after 72 hours. The Cornyn legislation contains an unworkable new standard that would require law enforcement officials to prove to a court within 72 hours that someone has committed or will actually commit an act of terror. This new, impractical threshold would actually make it harder for law enforcement to block a gun sale on the front end and instead allow potential terrorists to get their hands on deadly weapons – legally. The bill’s toothless provisions are unsurprising, since it was introduced by a Senator with an A+ rating from the NRA.
• When Republicans claim that the Democrats’ commonsense proposal could impact 700,000 Americans, they are overshooting their numbers—by approximately 690,000.

 

“We cannot afford to wait for the next worst mass shooting in American history before taking action to prevent another Orlando. The American people are demanding action, not more excuses or toothless proposals. That’s why Senate Democrats took over the Senate floor last week and forced a vote tonight on a commonsense proposal that would prevent suspected terrorists from purchasing guns. Though Senate Republicans defeated this same proposal in December, they now have an opportunity to correct their shameful votes and keep weapons out of the hands of suspected terrorists. We hope they can finally drop their misleading excuses and untruthful talking points, and instead take meaningful action to confront an issue that is truly above politics.”—DSCC Communications Director Sadie Weiner

 

For a list of the Senators who opposed the commonsense bill to actually prevent terrorists from buying firearms, please click HERE.