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Joe Manchin’s Crusade to Get Gun Bill a Second Shot A hunter and lifetime member of the National Rifle Association, Democrat Joe Manchin won his Senate seat after airing an ad that showed him firing a rifle and shooting a hole in the cap-and-trade bill backed by President Obama. Now the West Virginia senator is the point man on Capitol Hill for reviving legislation on background checks for gun buyers that lawmakers killed just three weeks ago. With polls showing the public turning on some Republican senators who voted against the popular bill, Manchin’s crusade for a second wave of...

Eleven days after the amendment he co-authored to expand background checks for gun purchases was rejected by his Senate colleagues, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) sounded optimistic Sunday about a second try. “I’m willing to go anywhere in this country, I’m going to debate anybody on this issue, read the bill and you tell me what you don’t like,” Manchin said on “Fox News Sunday,” reiterating his intention to bring his measure back to the Senate floor. Mission impossible? No. But the rebooted fight Manchin is promising will face long odds during the next 18 months for a simple reason: High-profile...

Speaking to FOX NEWS' Chris Wallace on April 28, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) said he is "absolutely" going to bring his gun control bill to the Senate floor for another vote. The bill, the Manchin-Toomey background check 'compromise,' was tabled by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on April 17 after failing to get the votes necessary to pass. And since then, co-sponsor Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) has said he's done pushing the gun control bill. And as Wallace pointed out to Manchin, even Democrats have lost interest in it.

The Talk Shows April 28th, 2013 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): en. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Reps. Peter King, R-N.Y., Keith Ellison, D-Minn., and Joaquin Castro, D-Texas. FACE THE NATION (CBS): Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.THIS WEEK (ABC): Reps. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., and Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md. STATE OF THE UNION (CNN): en. Dan Coats, R-Ind.; Reps. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Bennie...

Dear Friends, President Obama wanted three things on gun control -- to ban assault weapons, limit magazine sizes, and expand background checks. Fortunately, he lost on all three. I’ve always been confident if the Senate debated the Second Amendment, the Second Amendment would win. Yesterday, the Senate took up, debated, and voted on gun violence legislation. I am very pleased we had this debate, and was always ready and willing to vote in support of what I believe. Here’s how I voted yesterday: Voted Against the Manchin-Toomey Background Check Amendment (Failed 54-46, required 60 votes) No matter how well-intentioned, the...

In the wake of perhaps the worst political failure of Barack Obama’s term short of his 2010 midterm loss, the President vowed to continue to push forward on gun-control measures, especially background checks. One of the lead Senators on that effort appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe to insist that the fight isn’t over. Joe Manchin insisted that he could convince enough of his colleagues to flip on the background checks, at least: The public face of a failed amendment to expand background checks for gun purchases promised to continue pushing his legislation Thursday, saying he’ll work with skittish Democrats who...

Following a series of amendment votes in the Senate, including the Manchin-Toomey Amendment expanding background checks that failed to pass, the President makes a statement to reporters on what the White House calls "common-sense" gun control.

With Senate support for the Manchin-Toomey "compromise" continuing to slide, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Pat Toomey (R-PA) appear willing to revert to gimmicks to try to squeak the bill through. (snip) To stop the momentum shift before it is too late, Manchin and Toomey are "considering the possibility of adding language to the bill that would exempt select far-flung communities in Alaska and North Dakota from some background check requirements." They hope this would win the votes of Sens. Mark Begich (D-AK) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), as well Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND). If being exempted from the bill is what...

“We know one thing, none of this information would have been caught on a background check,” Feinstein insisted. “And I say that, although I support backgrounds check.”

Despite what Manchin has said, keep calling your Senators. A tactic to get people (who will call their senators to tell them they do not support Manchin's bill) to ease up on calling their senators??? Hmmm....

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) told reporters on Wednesday that the compromise legislation he crafted with Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) to expand background checks for gun purchasers does not have enough votes to pass the Senate when it comes up for a vote. [Snip] Chuck Todd, NBCs Chief White House Correspondent, speculated that, because the Manchin/Toomey compromise could not pass the House, there is no incentive for legislators who may be vulnerable on the issue of guns in 2014 to pass stricter legislation.

RUSH: Senator Elizabeth Warren wanted to get in on the big press conference in Boston this morning that happened about 10:30. The first words out of her mouth were praise for Obama and government. "The president of the United States has pledged his full support in all efforts, both to keep the city safe, and to find the person who did this. We did not have to reach out to the president; the president reached out to us," Warren said. He called the governor. He called the mayor. He called the members of congressional delegation because the president is actively...

(snip) The amendment will require at least 60 votes to be added to the underlying gun bill. Based on analysis by The Washington Post, only 22 of the 100 Senate votes are in play: The 16 Republican senators who voted last week to proceed with debate and six moderate Democrats who face difficult reelections in 2014 or represent rural states with strong gun cultures and would face strong political pressure at home for supporting new gun-control legislation. ** The 16 Republicans who voted with Democrats to proceed: Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Tom...

Washington (CNN) – Supporters of a bipartisan compromise to expand background checks for guns sales currently don't have the 60 votes they will need to win approval of their amendment so a vote on the proposal - which was expected midweek - is unlikely before the end of the week, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia, told CNN in an exclusive interview Monday. The vote is being pushed back so Manchin and others can build support for the controversial plan.

Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) told host Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday that supporters of new gun control legislation do not yet have the votes to pass it, despite defeating a Republican-led filibuster attempt last week. Durbin is the Senate Majority Whip, responsible for counting his party's votes on key legislative proposals. The specific bill facing the Senate is the Manchin-Toomey compromise on background checks, which would expand such requirements to gun shows, among other provisions. Currently, private sales between individuals at gun shows do not require background checks--just as private sales anywhere do not require them. The following is...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK) Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Penn., is "confident," he said Sunday on "Face the Nation," that he and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., will be able to muster enough Republican support in the Senate to pass an amendment that would expand background checks for gun purchases. "We're close," said Toomey said, appearing with Manchin. "We're discussing with colleagues on both sides. We've got bipartisan support, but there is bipartisan opposition." Toomey and Manchin, along with Sens. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced last week they had struck the deal, which would expand background checks for gun purchases to all commercial...

The Tea Party Patriots organization is planning protests on Tuesday at the home state offices of several Senators that the group argues are in need of an “intervention” for being sucked up into inside-the-Beltway politics, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA). The group is targeting Rubio on immigration reform and Toomey on gun control. “Two Senators in particular are facing Tea Party pressure, as they should--Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Pat Toomey (R-PA),” Tea Party Patriots said in a release. “Both of these men were elected thanks to Tea Party support, yet Senator Rubio is the...

Senator Joe Manchin was on FOX News today to discuss his proposed gun control legislation. He admitted his bill will not prevent another Newtown massacre, “This is not a universal background check. This is a criminal and mental background check at gun shows and internet sales. It does not infringe on your right as a family… It protects the rights of our veterans… They (families of Newtown shooting victims) even recognized that this legislation we’re working on, which is the background checks on criminal and mental illness would not have saved their little babies."

Appearing on CBS News' Face the Nation on April 14, Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) said Newtown families have told him they know the bill he and Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA) have crafted would not have prevented the heinous crime at Sandy Hook Elementary. In other words, Manchin's expanded background check "compromise" bill, being pushed in response to Newtown, does not do anything that would have stopped the Newtown tragedy from happening. Manchin said the families to whom he's spoken just keep urging him to do something in hopes that somewhere down the road new gun control legislation will "prevent one...

The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms had opposed previous iterations of a Democratic proposal for univesal background checks. "It's huge," Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., told Fox News on Sunday afternoon as he announced the CCRKBA endorsement.