It didn't take long for debate in the U.S. Senate on a credit card reform bill to take a detour, as the issue at hand had nothing to do with credit card interest rate hikes or late fees.
Instead, it was the Second Amendment and gun controls, as the Senate voted 67-29 in favor of a plan that allows people to carry firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges.
It was yet another example of the bipartisan political muscle on gun rights in Congress, as Republicans have had a lot of success in recent years with gun amendments on a variety of bills, keeping Democratic leaders in the Congress off balance.
For example, a bill that would give the District of Columbia a voting member in the U.S. House is bogged down right now, because the votes are there for an amendment that would basically get rid of most gun controls in Washington.
So how did guns and credit cards come together?
Well, the great thing about the Senate is that anyone can offer an amendment on pretty much any subject at any time, and that's what Sen. Tom Coburn of (R-Oklahoma) did Tuesday on the issue of guns in national parks.
Coburn offered two amendments, which would basically allow anyone to carry a gun in a national park or wildlife refuge, as long as it didn't go against local and state gun laws.
It was reminiscent of what used to happen when the late Sen. Jesse Helms would suddenly appear on the floor and send two amendments to the desk, usually catching Democrats off guard in the process.
The move clearly caught Democrats by surprise, as the Senate was in a quorum call for much of the next five hours, while the two sides cut a deal to give Coburn a vote.
And when the roll was called, there were Democrats aplenty who voted for the plan that lets visitors carry firearms in national parks and wildlife refuges, something that's currently the subject of a battle in the federal courts.
Even Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid - a frequent critic of Coburn's - voted for the amendment, as it was approved.
The vote again showed there is a clear, bipartisan working majority in the Congress that favors gun rights.
That doesn't mean Democrats are just going to slink away and not do anything about guns in the rest of this Congress - but it's going to take some big change for them to regain the advantage on gun issues.
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