US senate resistant to California mass shooting, votes against expanding gun background check

The US Senate has rejected a bill requesting expanded background check for gun purchases after the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, which claimed the lives of around 14 people on Wednesday.

The Senate voted against stricter gun background check on Thursday, wherein lawmakers rejected the notion by a vote of 50 to 48.

Senators Joe Manchin (Democrat from West Virginia) and Patrick Toomey (Republican from Pennsylvania) introduced the gun background check bill to make sure the guns are not being sold to wrong hands. The same proposal was introduced in 2013 after 20 children and six educators were shot to death at an elementary school at Newtown, Connecticut, but the Senate refuted to pass it that time as well.

Voting on the gun background measures this time was vital as it was presented as an amendment to a bill that rejected USS President Barack Obama’s healthcare law, namely, the Affordable Care Act, which he was supposed to veto. Presently, the guns are checked only to find out if the transactions were being done from licensed gun dealers, but the proposed bill demanded check for all guns purchased either online or at gun shows.

Republican Senator Dianne Feinstein sponsored the bill to ensure there is a watch kept on terrorist activities if the gun were used for something evil. The rejection of the bill in the Senate led her to criticise her Republican colleagues. “If you need proof that Congress is a hostage to the gun lobby, look no further than today’s vote blocking a bill to prevent known or suspected terrorists from buying guns and explosives,” she said in her statement.

Gun lobby has paralysed Congress for years no matter how many Americans are killed in mass shootings, she said. “The carnage won’t stop until Congress finds the courage to stand up to the gun lobby and protect the nation,” Feinstein added.

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