It’s not looking good this morning for the legislation to expand background checks for gun sales. The United States Senate is planning to vote this afternoon on the legislation. Several reports say the votes aren’t there for passage.
That is a damn shame. If it does fail, the failure will be the fault of Republicans in the U.S. Senate.
An April 4, 2013, Quinnipiac University poll found that voters “support universal gun background checks 91 – 8 percent, including 88 – 11 percent among voters in households with guns.”
It seems as though a vote for universal gun background checks would be a pretty safe vote politically.
It even looks as though Montana’s two U.S. Senators (both democrats) are split in their support for universal gun background checks. U.S. Senator Max Baucus was listed as undecided , and he is probably waiting to see which way the political wind is blowing before announcing his decision.
The support and non-support from Montana’s senators may come down to which one has an election next.
U.S. Senator Jon Tester supports the legislation and called it “a step in the right direction while protecting my 2nd Amendment rights.”
Does this mean that President Barack Obama and Tester will be showing up at my home to take my guns? Some folks will sell it as that, but that is not true. I am a law-abiding gun owner and if you are, then you have nothing to worry about.
There will be others say that Manchin-Toomey would have done nothing to stop some of the recent gun violence. That is true, but it may help stop some future violence. There need to be other measures taken to reduce gun violence, too.
It is all about the next election.
This gun issue came up at a good time for Tester as his last election was five months ago, and his next election is in 2018. He’s selling his support as protecting Second Amendment rights. Future opponents of Tester will try to use his support of Manchin-Toomey against him. I don’t think it will work. Tester is a Teflon candidate – nothing much sticks to him. Opponents tried to tie him to President Obama in 2012 with ads and e-mails saying he voted with Obama 95% of the time. That angle made Denny Rehberg an ex- Congressman and made Tester a second-term senator.
The other Montana senator, Max Baucus (D), has found himself in a tough spot as his election is in 2014. Republicans in Montana are looking for some red meat on Baucus, as they have never been able to beat him. When he recently voted for cloture on a gun bill, the Republicans pounced. If Baucus ends up voting for the Manchin-Toomey background check bill, the Montana Republicans would have ticker-tape parade in downtown Helena.
I doubt they will need to schedule the parade because Baucus probably wakes up with night sweats when he dreams about his support for the assault weapons ban in 1994. That vote caused him to have his closest election which he won by almost 5%.
If the background check legislation fails, it’s a slap across the face to the people of Newtown Connecticut, Aurora Colorado, Gabby Giffords, and people everywhere who have suffered from gun violence.
I thought we were better than this.
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The Western Word 
It is true that this bill or any previous rendition would not have had any affect on any of the recent mass shootings (or the knife welding carnage) if it had been in place. It will not change the situation if every legal gun owner has a background check. The mentally ill and criminals will find a way to get a weapon to carry out their mission. All of these people had mental health issues, were on medication like Zanex, Ridilin and other anti-depressants. Their situation was known to people caring for them but never said a word. What bothers me most in your post, is that Max is more concerned about being re-elected then standing up for he believes is right. He deserves the reprecussions for his decision today, no matter what he chooses it to be.