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Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia is out with a new op-ed today calling out the dozen-plus GOP senators who have threatened to filibuster gun control legislation.
Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and 11 other senators have promised to filibuster any discussion of gun safety rules. Instead of just voting against restrictions they don’t like, they are trying to block any vote whatsoever…
The issue before us is whether a passionate minority – of senators and special interests – will block the majority from full debate and votes on gun safety. That passionate minority is pulling out all the stops. I received a mailing at my house last weekend attacking the Senate proposals in extreme terms. The mailing failed to make clear that it was paid for by gun manufacturers whose pocketbooks benefit from lax laws.
The moment for decision is here. The minority is trying to block debate. It’s time for the reasonable majority to step up and be heard. If we miss this opportunity, it will only be a matter of time before we’re awakened again by the next gun tragedy to hit the evening news.
Kaine further pushed his fellow senators to not to “worry about the NRA” and move forward with consideration of gun control during Tuesday’s Morning Joe.
“Don’t worry about the NRA. I represent the state where the NRA’s headquarters are. We have a lot of NRA members—one in my household, my oldest son was an NRA member for many, many years—but the NRA leadership is out of touch with its membership,” Kaine said, recalling the NRA’s many campaigns against him and spending $600,000 to try and oust him in 2012. “They’ve not been able to beat me, and they haven’t because the NRA membership understands that the Second Amendment is like the First Amendment. We love the First Amendment, especially in Virginia because [James] Madison drafted the Bill of Rights, the First Amendment doesn’t give blanket rights to child pornography or slander. The Second Amendment does provide an individual right and I’m a gun owner, but it’s also consistent with reasonable limitations to protect public safety.”
