After Pat Toomey touted his gun ownership and NRA ‘A’ rating, followed by Joe Manchin stating that “if you want to remember those 20 babies and six brave adults in Newtown, you’ll consider voting for this bill” the Manchin-Toomey background check amendment went down to defeat in the Senate this afternoon. The amendment, which needed 60 votes for passage, only drew 54 affirmatives.
That was despite someone wheeling New Jersey’s Frank Lautenberg in just long enough for him to say ‘aye’ when his name was called. Of course, his vote was offset by Harry Reid’s — yes, Harry Reid’s — no-vote.
Now, despite the fierce moral urgency that demanded the establishment of a national commission on mass violence and all the benefits that confab would have brought the nation, it seems we’ll just have to find another way.