Lucille
05-06-2013, 02:39 PM
Before I even read it, I thought Flake was probably one of them. I predict he is, and will vote YAY! next time around.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/05/06/at-least-two-senate-republicans-want-to-talk-again-about-guns/
At least two Republican senators who recently voted against a bipartisan proposal to expand the national gun background check system have approached Democrats in recent days about possibly restarting debate on the issue, according to two senior Senate aides familiar with the talks.
The aides, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the talks, refused to identify the two Republicans.
[...]
Senate aides and activists pushing for stricter gun laws say there are likely two forthcoming windows of opportunity for the Senate to return to gun legislation: Either in late May after the consideration of an Internet taxation bill and a measure reauthorizing water resource development projects, or later in the summer, once senators willing to change their votes on the issue have had enough time to reconsider their position.
Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) hinted over the weekend at a new round of talks in an interview with The Las Vegas Review-Journal. He said that Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W. Va.), the chief architect of the bipartisan background check proposal, had called him recently to say he believed there were now more votes in support of the plan.
Reid noted that Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) faced strongly critical reactions from voters last week during a series of town hall meetings across her state. During those meetings, Ayotte said that she is willing to continue discussing the issue of gun-related violence, so long as legislative proposals include a plan to fix and bolster the nation’s mental health programs.
“She’s the only senator in the northeast to vote against background checks,” Reid said of Ayotte, in the interview. “She went from a hugely positive number in New Hampshire — her negatives now outweigh her positives. She is being hit every place she goes. So we are going to pick up some more votes. I may be able to get another Democrat or two. That would get us up to 57. We may only need three additional Republicans. So we’ll see.”
A spokesman for Ayotte didn’t respond for requests for comment Monday.
Keeping pressure on Ayotte, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the gun-control group founded by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I), released a new television advertisement in New Hampshire Monday attacking her for voting against the background check proposal. The ad stars several older voters and notes that 89 percent of Granite State voters supported the plan.
“Sen. Ayotte supports giving criminals a pass,” one man in the ad says.
Another senator who voted against the plan, Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), took to Facebook last week to acknowledge that his statewide approval ratings had taken a hit in part because of his vote on the background check proposal: ”Given the public’s dim view of Congress in general, that probably puts me somewhere just below pond scum,” he said.
Flake spokesman Genevieve Rozansky said in an e-mail Monday that the senator “has said all along that background checks need to be strengthened, particularly with regard to the mentally ill. So he is hopeful that changes will be made to Manchin-Toomey, or another proposal, that address his concerns regarding private sales, and that a bill will be brought back to the floor.”
Lauren Culbertson, a spokeswoman for Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), said the senator is open to further conversations about expanding background checks, but that the current proposal “would have to be significantly reworked” before he considered supporting the plan. Culbertson said that Isakson “has major concerns with its potential impact on private sales and on privacy issues.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/05/06/at-least-two-senate-republicans-want-to-talk-again-about-guns/
At least two Republican senators who recently voted against a bipartisan proposal to expand the national gun background check system have approached Democrats in recent days about possibly restarting debate on the issue, according to two senior Senate aides familiar with the talks.
The aides, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the talks, refused to identify the two Republicans.
[...]
Senate aides and activists pushing for stricter gun laws say there are likely two forthcoming windows of opportunity for the Senate to return to gun legislation: Either in late May after the consideration of an Internet taxation bill and a measure reauthorizing water resource development projects, or later in the summer, once senators willing to change their votes on the issue have had enough time to reconsider their position.
Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) hinted over the weekend at a new round of talks in an interview with The Las Vegas Review-Journal. He said that Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W. Va.), the chief architect of the bipartisan background check proposal, had called him recently to say he believed there were now more votes in support of the plan.
Reid noted that Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) faced strongly critical reactions from voters last week during a series of town hall meetings across her state. During those meetings, Ayotte said that she is willing to continue discussing the issue of gun-related violence, so long as legislative proposals include a plan to fix and bolster the nation’s mental health programs.
“She’s the only senator in the northeast to vote against background checks,” Reid said of Ayotte, in the interview. “She went from a hugely positive number in New Hampshire — her negatives now outweigh her positives. She is being hit every place she goes. So we are going to pick up some more votes. I may be able to get another Democrat or two. That would get us up to 57. We may only need three additional Republicans. So we’ll see.”
A spokesman for Ayotte didn’t respond for requests for comment Monday.
Keeping pressure on Ayotte, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the gun-control group founded by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I), released a new television advertisement in New Hampshire Monday attacking her for voting against the background check proposal. The ad stars several older voters and notes that 89 percent of Granite State voters supported the plan.
“Sen. Ayotte supports giving criminals a pass,” one man in the ad says.
Another senator who voted against the plan, Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), took to Facebook last week to acknowledge that his statewide approval ratings had taken a hit in part because of his vote on the background check proposal: ”Given the public’s dim view of Congress in general, that probably puts me somewhere just below pond scum,” he said.
Flake spokesman Genevieve Rozansky said in an e-mail Monday that the senator “has said all along that background checks need to be strengthened, particularly with regard to the mentally ill. So he is hopeful that changes will be made to Manchin-Toomey, or another proposal, that address his concerns regarding private sales, and that a bill will be brought back to the floor.”
Lauren Culbertson, a spokeswoman for Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), said the senator is open to further conversations about expanding background checks, but that the current proposal “would have to be significantly reworked” before he considered supporting the plan. Culbertson said that Isakson “has major concerns with its potential impact on private sales and on privacy issues.”