Nearly four months after the 12/14 elementary school slaughter in Newtown, Connecticut, the Senate voted 68-31 Thursday to move ahead with debate on gun legislation introduced before the spring recess.
Two Democrats, Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Mark Begich of Alaska, voted with 29 Republicans not to proceed. Republicans who voted in favor were Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Bob Corker of Tennessee, Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, Richard Burr of North Carolina, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Susan Collins of Maine, Jeff Flake of Arizona, Jon Isakson of Georgia, Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, Mark Kirk of Illinois, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Dean Heller of Nevada, John Hoeven of North Dakota, John McCain of Arizona and Roger Wicker of Mississippi.
That legislation, S. 649, currently includes three provisions but will be subject to amendments, including the Manchin-Toomey compromise that would expand the scope of background checks on gun buyers but more narrowly than the legislation now calls for. Majority Leader Harry Reid has said that amendment will be the first one to be debated.
Additional amendments will include those introduced by Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein to ban assault weapons and limit the capacity of ammunition magazines and as yet undeclared amendments from Republicans that can be expected to water down an already watered-down bill.
Debate could start as early as this week.