Alabama’s senior U.S. Senator Richard Shelby took to the floor of the Senate today to speak against the Senate Democrats’ gun control legislation.
“Mr. President, I rise to defend the Second Amendment to our Constitution,” Senator Shelby said in the opening line of his remarks.
Shelby said that he mourns for the victims of mass shootings in Connecticut and Colorado, but pointed out what conservatives have been saying all along: this legislation would do nothing to prevent such tragedies going forward. “We should not react to these tragedies in an irrational manner that would erode a fundamental right of every citizen in the United States,” Shelby remarked.
“The Second Amendment states unambiguously: ‘the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed,’ he continued. “It makes plain to criminals that their targets have the right to defend themselves, their families, and their property. Since criminals do not follow the law, new restrictions will hinder only the law-abiding among us.”
Shelby also said that he sees this as just the beginning of assaults on the Second Amendment, with many more likely to follow if they’re not stopped now. “More background checks today, gun registration tomorrow. Who knows what will follow after that. Congress should reject it all now.”
The Senate is currently voting on amendments to S649, the gun legislation bill which Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) introduced last week. The first amendment by Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Pat Toomey (R-PA), which sought to expand background checks when purchasing a firearm, failed 54-46. It needed 60 votes to pass. Both of Alabama’s senators voted against the amendment.
This vote essentially killed gun control advocates’ chances of passing any significant anti-second amendment legislation at this time. Big win for conservatives. Huge defeat for one of President Obama’s major second term priorities.
Senator Reid is expected to announce Wednesday afternoon that he is pulling the underlying gun bill from the Senate floor. But he did switch his vote on the Machine-Tommey amendment to “no” at the last minute, which means he could bring the measure up again in the future.
Video of Senator Shelby’s remarks on the Senate floor can bee seen below.
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