West Virginia’s Sen. Joe Manchin remained resolute that he can get a background check bill passed in the Senate.
“We’re gonna win this,” a fired up Manchin said on Thursday’s Morning Joe, the day after the Senate shot down the background check gun control amendment that he and Pennsylvania’s Sen. Pat Toomey crossed party lines to co-author. “I’ve got more work to do…We’re going to pass this. Don’t you give up.”
Manchin, a Democrat, and Toomey, a Republican, expanded background checks to include sales at gun shows and online, while adding strong protections for gun rights, such as criminalizing any attempt at establishing a gun-owner registry. The amendment was seen as a key component that could help the bill to pass. Nonetheless, the measure fell short of the 60 votes it needed to move forward.
“This was a balanced bill that had everybody’s input,” Manchin said.
The NRA alleged that the bill would have instituted background checks between family members and close friends–something the bill does not do.
“For the NRA to say this,” he said. “What they’re saying is trying to stretch that if I sold a gun on the Internet to my cousin, then I make a family member [get a background check]. If you’ve got to sell a gun on the Internet, you better check your family relationship.” Manchin vowed to work with the four Democrats who voted against the bill, saying that he would continue to tweak his bill and work to get the necessary 60 votes. “If the NRA didn’t score this, we’d have 15 more votes,” he said. “We had a good piece of legislation that would have saved lives–it will save lives.
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