The National Rifle Association‘s assumed stranglehold on Senate GOP has manifested itself in the voting against a law that would block suspected terrorists, the mentally unfit and felons from purchasing guns.
The New York Daily News reports:
Senate Republicans voted against barring suspected terrorists, felons and the mentally ill from getting guns on Thursday afternoon, parroting National Rifle Association arguments that doing so would strip some innocent people of their constitutional rights to gun access just a day after yet another massacre on U.S. soil.
A pair of Democratic measures – one to close background check loopholes to make it harder for felons and the mentally ill from buying guns, another to ban those on the terror watch list from buying guns – both went down in flames against near-unanimous GOP opposition.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told the Daily News that he was “aghast” that Republicans blocked the bills.
“To say it’s okay for would-be terrorists to buy guns after what happened in Paris in California shows just a total disregard for public safety and a total fear of the NRA. and it’s hard to believe the NRA could be so unreasonable. They’re digging their own grave,” he said.
For years, the NRA has been accused of funneling funds into the hands of Republican lawmakers in order to secure their pro-gun position. While the right to bear arms has been a contentious issue for many in the nation, critics of the NRA say the powerful lobbying organization wields far too much influence over elected officials.
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