Miss. senators vote no on expanded background checks

Miss. senators vote no on expanded background checks

Mississippi Sens. Roger Wicker and Thad Cochran voted Wednesday against proposals to expand gun-related background checks and ban assault weapons.

Each proposal failed to get the 60 votes needed for passage.

The background checks amendment, which failed 54-46, was the core of the Senate’s gun-control legislation. Drafted by Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa., it would have expanded background checks to include gun shows and Internet sales while exempting family-to-family and other private sales.

Wicker called the compromise “flawed.’’

Clarion Ledger
4/17/13