Democrats, who held the Senate floor for nearly 15 hours in protest over a lack of action on gun control, said they have been promised votes on their legislation by GOP leaders.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., ended a filibuster shortly after 2 a.m. after Republican leaders pledged the Senate would vote on legislation sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., that would block people on the terror watch list from purchasing firearms.
“We have been given a commitment on a path forward to get votes on the floor of the Senate on a measure to assure that those on the terrorist watch list do not get guns,” Murphy said.
Murphy said Republican leaders also promised a vote on legislation that would expand background checks to gun shows and online sales.
It’s unlikely the Democratic measures will pass.
Most Republicans oppose the Feinstein measure because the terror watch list is secretive, error-prone and hard to contest for those who are accidentally placed on it.
Democrats and Republicans have been negotiating to find a compromise between the Feinstein bill and a measure authored by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, that would implement a three-day waiting period for people trying to purchase guns who are on the list. Democrats say Cornyn’s bill would make it too difficult for the federal government to stop terrorist gun purchases.
The negotiations did not produce a deal.
Democrats in both chambers have been pushing gun control legislation in the wake of the mass shooting in Orlando that killed 50 people and wounded 53.
Murphy has been promoting gun control since 2012, when a mentally disturbed man shot and killed 20 children at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.
Murphy ended his marathon floor speech, which began at 11:21 a.m. and ended at 2:11 a.m, standing next to a large poster of a boy killed in the shooting.
“There is no guarantee that the amendments will pass,” Murphy said. “But we’ll have some time to take the movement that existed before we started and maybe is a little bit stronger now and try to prevail upon members to take these two measures and turn them into law.”
