While Congressional Democrats talked Wednesday about how they would keep trying to push gun control legislation through the U.S. Congress, work on a Senate gun bill could soon be abandoned, after the Senate rejected a series of plans from President Obama to combat gun violence.
"This was a pretty shameful day for Washington," the President said in somewhat bitter tones after the Senate defeated a plan for expanded background checks on gun sales at gun shows and over the internet.
Soon after Senators finished voting on background checks, two women in the galleries yelled, "Shame on you!" at Senators.
The women were then hustled outside of the Capitol by police; one had lost a child at Virginia Tech, the other helped to stop the man who shot Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ).
The Senate on Wednesday also turned aside two other plans that had been given high profile support by Mr. Obama, easily rejecting an assault weapons ban and limits on high capacity ammunition magazines.
In other words, it was a complete and total defeat for the President on gun control. He used a lot of effort the past three months to call for public action, but as of now, had nothing to show for it.
After the background check vote, the President accused his opponents of "willfully" lying about the plan in order to gin up gun rights supporters.
"There were no coherent arguments as to why we wouldn’t do this," the President said. "It came down to politics - the worry that that vocal minority of gun owners would come after them in future elections."
It was the President's first legislative battle over gun control during his time in office; he had avoided the issue until the aftermath of the Newtown shootings last December.
"I see this as just round one," the President said in the Rose Garden of the White House.
But for the last nineteen years, gun rights advocates have held the edge in the Congress, and this Senate fight proved that once again.
Even though Democrats hold a majority in the Senate, they were unable to muster 60 votes needed on background checks, as four Democratic Senators from Red states ignored the President's pleas to vote with him.
If you think about it for a minute, getting a Red state Democrat to switch positions on gay marriage, then vote for gun control, and embrace immigration reform - all of those stances combined might not be the preferred way to run for re-election in a Red state.
While there was still some talk about finding a compromise on background checks, the rumblings inside the Capitol led many to believe that Democrats would end work for now on guns and move on to other issues, like an expected lengthy debate over immigration reform.
It was an uphill battle from the start for Democrats on gun control, but it still didn't take the sting out of their string of losses in the Senate on Wednesday.
"It’s shameful that today so many in the Senate chose to turn their backs on Newtown families, victims of gun violence, and the vast majority of the American public," said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT).
