Showdown gun control vote set Thursday in Senate

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate’s top Democrat is setting Congress’ first showdown vote for Thursday on President Barack Obama’s gun control drive as a small but mounting number of Republicans appear willing to buck a conservative effort to prevent debate from even beginning

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Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada announced his decision Tuesday as the White House, congressional Democrats and relatives of the victims of December’s mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., amped up pressure on GOP lawmakers to allow debate and votes on gun control proposals. Twenty first-graders and six educators were gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary School, turning gun control into a top-tier national issue.

“We have a responsibility to safeguard these little kids,” Reid said on the Senate floor, pointing to a poster-sized photo of a white picket fence that had slats bearing the names of the Newtown victims. “And unless we do something more than what’s the law today, we have failed.”

“We don’t have the guts to stand up and vote yes or no? We want to vote maybe? Tell that to the families in Newtown” and other communities where there have been mass shootings, said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
But Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, one of 13 conservative senators who signed a letter promising to try blocking debate, said the Senate bill puts “burdens on law abiding citizens exercising a constitutional right.” He said none of its provisions “would have done anything to prevent the horrible tragedy of Sandy Hook.”

Obama was calling senators from both parties Tuesday to push for the gun bill, according to a White House official.

Reid’s determination to stage a vote came despite inconclusive talks between Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., aimed at finding compromise on expanding background checks to more gun purchasers.

But Manchin left a meeting in Reid’s office late Tuesday and said he hoped a deal could be completed on Wednesday. Such a compromise would be likely to attract bipartisan support because both lawmakers are among their parties’ most conservative members.

The checks, aimed at keeping firearms from criminals and certain other buyers, are the cornerstone of Obama’s gun plan, which has been struggling in Congress. Democrats have been buoyed by polls consistently showing more than 8 in 10 Americans support subjecting more buyers to background checks.

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