Fourteen Senate Republicans turned their backs on law-abiding gun owners as well as the National Rifle Association to advance bipartisan gun control and school safety legislation.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) condemned the turncoat Republicans.
“Tonight, I opposed the gun control legislation — released only an hour before the vote — that would infringe on law-abiding Americans’ Second Amendment rights,” she wrote on Twitter.
The Senate voted 64-34 to begin debate on a rewrite of the nation’s firearm laws. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell led 14 Republicans to join Democrats in supporting the anti-gun law.
“Our colleagues have put together a common-sense package of popular steps that will help make [mass shooting] incidents less likely, while fully upholding the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens,” said McConnell.
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Sens. John Cornyn of Texas, Joni Ernst of Iowa, and Todd Young of Indiana supported the plan. Also supporting the bill were swing-state Republicans, like Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Thom Tillis of North Carolina.
Tonight, I opposed the gun control legislation — released only an hour before the vote — that would infringe on law-abiding Americans’ Second Amendment rights.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) June 22, 2022
Moderate Republicans provided a substantial share of the vote, including Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Mitt Romney of Utah, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
Rounding out the group was retiring Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio, Roy Blunt of Missouri and Richard Burr of North Carolina.
The 80-page bill will provide funding for states to implement red flag laws — which could lead to efforts by the government to confiscate firearms from law-abiding gun owners.
The National Rifle Association strongly condemned the legislation.
“This legislation can be abused to restrict lawful gun purchases, infringe upon the rights of law-abiding Americans, & use fed dollars to fund gun control measures being adopted by state & local politicians,” they said in a statement.