Biden: Obama team not giving up on gun legislation

[BainsBane]

WASHINGTON -- Vice President Biden said Tuesday the Obama administration will continue fighting for a "rational gun policy," more than six months after a mass killing at an elementary school and two months after a major reversal in Congress.

"The president and I -- our team -- have not given up," Biden said in remarks at the White House.

Biden spoke just hours after the White House released a report, saying it has "completed or made significant progress" on 21 of 23 executive actions that Obama outlined on Jan. 16 as part of a major gun-control initiative.

Still, Biden said, "we need Congress to act."

The Senate blocked a background check bill in April, thanks mostly to the votes of Republicans. Obama administration officials and Senate Democrats are trying to revive the bill by pressuring senators who voted against it to reconsider.

Biden noted that the background check bill had majority support in the Senate, but ran afoul of filibuster rules that require "60 votes for everything." The vice president said some senators who voted to block a debate now wonder if that was "a prudent vote."

While he did not cite specific names, Biden noted that some senators have seen their approval ratings drop since their opposing gun vote in April.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/06/18/obama-biden-gun-control-newtown-aurora/2434461/

[Cha]

1. Didn't think so.. thanks VP BIDEN..

thanks Bains

[aikoaiko]

2. It would help to not have Biden appear as the point person on this.

Having Joe (I mock gun owners) Biden "pressuring" pro-gun senators will never go over well.

They should have done this quietly like they did post-Virginia Tech when the NRA worked with Democrats in congress to improve the background check data base without the big personalities on either side posturing for the press.

[BainsBane]

3. mock gun owners?

Tooney and Manchin negotiated the bill.

It's really unattractive for grown adults to spend so much time feeling sorry for themselves as you gunners do. No wonder you feel the need to carry guns all the time.

[aikoaiko]

6. Yes, Joe has a history of mocking gun owners.

The most famous example is from the 2008 CNN-Youtube debate.

Compare the respectful, serious response of Richardson to Biden's smug response. No wonder Biden failed to produce any national gun legislation.

Yes, Tooney and Manchin negotiated a bill after much posturing about more significant restrictions to gun ownership liberties. It failed because it was part of a larger effort not negotiated by gun interests. The hubris of the AWB was fueled by the Newtown shooting, but the background check bill had nothing to do with Newtown.

And your parting shot:

It's really unattractive for grown adults to spend so much time feeling sorry for themselves as you gunners do. No wonder you feel the need to carry guns all the time

That is a good example of why gun restrictionists like you are failing the political task of negotiating gun control. I don't feel sorry for myself and most gun owners don't. But if you mock me or people like me, then I have little desire to work with you.

By the way, I see you changed your mind about responding to my posts. I thought that would be the case.

[BainsBane]

7. Well, I would prefer it if you would not respond to my threads

and especially if you would refrain from whining. It's amazing that gun nuts care so much more about their own feelings than the children killed in Sandyhook and other victims of gun violence. That's hard for any normal human being to understand, including the vast majority of decent gun owners, who in my experience do not engage in narcissistic self pity.

[Garion_55]

4. dont see why not

its a waste of time, always was. nothing is going to get through the house. nothing on guns. nothing on immigration. nothing on deficit. nothing on jobs.

goppers dont care about keeping kids safe from getting their heads blown off, they've proven that time after time. why anyone thought this time was going to be any different amazes me.

[BainsBane]

5. The bill starts in the Senate