Senator Says Dems ‘Have the Votes’ for New Gun Laws, It’s Just The Number of Votes Needed is More Than They Have
“We have a Democratic House, a Democratic Senate, a pro-gun control president, Democrat,” said Tapper, setting the stage for the however. “No new gun regulations have passed, why not?”
Murphy began his answer by saying that the American people only pay attention to the issues involved when there are shootings, even though “100 people every day are dying from gunshot wounds.”
“The fact of the matter is, we have the votes in the House and the Senate for a universal background checks bill. We have a president who will sign it,” said Murphy, emphatically stating that his party does have the number of votes needed.
“It’s the rules of the Senate that prevent us from passing it,” he continued, meaning that they do not have enough votes to pass the legislation.
The number of votes that it takes to pass legislation is a figure determined by the rules. Under the rules, they do not have enough votes.
“We probably have 52, 53, 54 votes in the Senate for this,” he said, listing numbers that are fewer than needed to overcome a filibuster, which is part of the rules. “So the rules right now are what prevent us from being able to enact the will of the public.”
“If we don’t change the rules of the Senate, then we’re ultimately going to need 60 votes,” he explained further, stating the number of votes currently needed, which they do not have. “And so we need to continue to build up our political power around the country.”