Obama Takes Senate to Task for Failed Gun Control Measure
April 17, 2013 -- President Obama accused members of Congress of having "a pretty shameful day in Washington," a reaction to the Senate's failure to pass a key gun control measure that would have expanded background checks.
The proposal to expand the background checks for people buying guns online and at gun shows fell six votes short of winning the 60 votes needed to pass. The vote was 54 to 46.
Obama, introduced by Mark Barden, whose 7-year-old son, Daniel, was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., made his displeasure clear in his tone and grim facial expression as he scolded lawmakers and assured constituents that the vote was just "round one."
"Most of these senators could not offer any good reason for why we wouldn't want to make it harder for criminals and those with severe mental illnesses to buy a gun," Obama said.
The president admonished senators who, in his words, "caved to the pressure" from a powerful gun lobby.
"I've heard some say that blocking this step would be a victory," Obama said. "My question is: A victory for who? A victory for what? All that happened today was the preservation of the loophole that lets dangerous criminals buy guns without a background check."
The president called for sustained public passion behind gun control, and he called on supporters of background checks to call their lawmakers, register their disappointment, and vote gun-control opponents out of office unless they change.
"When Newtown happened, I met with these families, and I spoke to the community and I said something must be different," Obama said.
"That's what the whole country said," he added. "Everybody talked about how we were gonna change something to make sure this didn't happen again, just like everybody talked about how we were gonna have to do something after Aurora, just like everybody talked about how we were gonna have to change something after Tucson. ... I'm assuming our expressions of grief and our commitment to do something different to prevent these things from happening are not empty words."
In addition to the Newtown families, President Obama was joined by former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who survived an attempted assassination in 2011, and Vice President Joe Biden, who has led the administration's effort to reform the nation's gun laws in the wake of the December shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
The failure of the measure on background checks, backed by Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., was a striking defeat for President Obama and supporters of gun control in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting.
Several family members of the Sandy Hook massacre also were seated in the Senate gallery at the time of the failed vote. As the Senate called vote, Lori Haas, the mother of a woman who survived being shot twice at Virginia Tech University, and Tucson survivor Pat Maiach yelled, "Shame on you!" Their shouts were audible from the Senate floor. They then were detained inside the Capitol building, being interviewed by Capitol Hill police.
As anticipated, the Senate also failed to pass the assault weapons ban, by a vote of 40-60.
Biden, who was presiding over the Senate and announced the vote on background checks, reacted with scorn, saying: "This is far from over. This is far from over."
"The United States Senate let down an awful lot of people today, including those Newtown families," Biden told ABC News as he left the Capitol. "I don't know how anybody who looked them in the eye could have vote the way they did today. You know, it's time for the American people to make it clear how displeased they are with this vote and let their representatives know that."
