The U.S. Senate voted on four gun control amendments Monday, and as expected, all four failed.
>> Click here to watch the video from Newsy
Two of the four measures came close to the 60 votes needed to pass. Both of the proposals from Republican senators received a 53-47 vote.
After the measures failed, Senate Democrats blamed the National Rifle Association and its powerful hold over numerous politicians.
"Republicans are just about as phony as anyone can be. All they care about is taking care of the NRA. You get somebody that's in a difficult situation, like the senator from New Hampshire, the junior senator from New Hampshire, she's doing everything but yoga on the Senate floor to try to justify what she's doing," Sen. Harry Reid said after the votes.
>> The latest coverage of the Orlando nightclub shooting
"But what happened today is so troubling and disturbing and frustrating. That when there are gaping holes, that literally our enemy is telling people to exploit these holes, to kill us, we've left these loopholes open," Sen. Cory Booker said.
One of the amendments would've closed the loophole that allows anyone to buy a gun at a gun show or on the internet without having to pass a background check — a change that's supported by the majority of Americans.
A CBS News poll, conducted after the Orlando mass shooting that killed 49 people, found 89 percent of people support background checks on all gun buyers.
"What am I going to tell 49 grieving families? ... What am I going to tell the community of Orlando that is trying to come together in the healing? Sadly, what I'm going to have to tell them is the NRA won again," Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said.
But the Democrats pledged to continue the fight. Sen. Chris Murphy, who led the filibuster last week to get a vote on these amendments, wrote on Twitter, "Dear gun lobby - I'm not going anywhere. I'm not backing down. I'm not giving up. And I got millions of folks with me. #Enough"
On Tuesday, President Obama tweeted a condemnation of the Senate's failure to act.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest referred to the senators who didn't vote for gun reform as "cowards."
This video includes clips from C-SPAN and images from Getty Images.
About the Author
