First, the good news. The Manchin/Toomey amendment to S. 649 was defeated in the Senate by a 54-46 vote. The only way the bill was ever going to have a chance at passage was with that amendment, so it’s safe to say it’s dead.
John McCain voted “yea.” Harry Reid waited until the very end to cast a “nay” vote. Some lady shouted “shame on you” from the rafters, and the President is calling the NRA liars (epic meltdown here). So, business as usual.
A look at the votes for various amendments is interesting. Feinstein’s Assault Weapons Ban 2.0 failed, but only by a 60-40 margin. That means the issue isn’t quite dead yet. On the other hand, the Cornyn amendment to enact nationwide CCW reciprocity won by a 57-43 margin.
The margin on the Manchin amendment is better than I expected, but still short of what I’d have liked to see. Pay close attention to how your Senator voted, because we really need to be hitting the polls in 2014. This was probably the One Big Chance for gun-control advocates to get something through, but I’m not turning my back just yet.