[V]ermont’s two U.S. senators supported Democratic proposals to increase background checks for gun buyers and restrict firearms sales Monday.
Democrat Patrick Leahy and independent Bernie Sanders voted in favor of two of four gun control measures the Senate took up Monday — none of which garnered the necessary 60 votes to pass.
The votes came the week after Leahy joined a filibuster led by Connecticut Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy demanding that the Republican leadership allow floor votes on gun control-related amendments to an appropriations bill.
On Monday, both Vermont senators voted for an amendment offered by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., that The New York Times said would have blocked gun sales to people on the federal terrorism watch list. The Vermonters voted against a Republican-offered version that would have required a three-day waiting period for terrorism suspects to buy guns.
Sanders and Leahy both supported Murphy’s proposal to expand background checks for online and gun show purchases. But they opposed an amendment from Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, that would have increased funding for background checks but wouldn’t expand them.
Speaking on the Senate floor in support of the amendments offered by his Democratic colleagues, Leahy read from an open letter penned by Burlington High School junior Ella Staats and published through the Young Writers Project. Staats wrote the piece after a shooter killed 49 and injured 53 at an Orlando nightclub earlier this month.
“I am tired of excuses. I am tired of waiting. I am tired because I know this is not the last awful shooting I will see in my lifetime,” Staats wrote.
Leahy responded to Staats on the Senate floor.
“You are right. It is long past time for Congress to reform the laws that allow mass gun violence to flourish in our country. You deserve to feel safe. You should not have to fear that guns designed for the battlefield will end up in the hands of terrorists or violent criminals,” Leahy said, according to remarks posted on his website.
Sanders returned to the Capitol on Thursday ahead of the votes. His legislative attendance record has slipped during his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. The junior senator has missed 92.8 percent of the votes held in the Senate since the beginning of April, according to govtrack.us.
In a statement, Sanders called the two amendments he supported “no-brainers.”
“It is incomprehensible to me, and I believe to the vast majority of Americans, as to why Republicans would oppose them,” he said.
Sanders said the attack in Orlando and other shootings show that terrorists, criminals and the dangerously mentally ill should have limited access to firearms. “We have got to do everything we can to stop guns from falling into the hands of people who should not have them,” he said.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, was reportedly working on another proposal. Spokespeople for both Vermont senators said they would wait to see her proposal before deciding whether to support it.
The Vermont senators support bans on semi-automatic weapons, according to their representatives.
David Carle, spokesman for Leahy, referenced gun-related legislation Leahy worked on as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee — none of which moved across the Senate floor. “He’s long been leaning on this,” Carle said Tuesday.
However, he said, it’s unlikely there will be any action in the immediate future.
“It’s as clear as it can be that Republicans are attempting to block any sensible bills, and we’re only in session the next week or so,” Carle said.
Josh Miller-Lewis, spokesman for Sanders, said the senator would support “meaningful” legislation that comes out of negotiations between Republicans and Democrats.
“We’re going to have to wait and see what happens,” Miller-Lewis said.
