by As Sebastian at Shall Not Be Questioned has pointed out over numerous posts, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) is in very tough re-election fight. Moreover, as Sebastian has also pointed out, Toomey just seems to want to lose the votes of the one group that would make the difference in his election – gun owners.
He’s at it again. In today’s Wall Street Journal there was a discussion of the anti-due process filibuster being waged by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) in an effort to get anyone and everyone in the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database and other assorted “terrorist watchlists” on the NICS denied list. What caught my eye was this little tidbit.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) and Mr. Toomey introduced again on Wednesday their legislation that would expand background checks to all sales at gun shows and online, with the goal of flagging people with criminal or mental-health histories that disqualify them from gun ownership. Currently, the checks are needed only for sales by federally licensed dealers. The bill stalled in the Senate in April 2013.
Like a zombie, Manchin-Toomey lives again!
I don’t have the bill number as it is so new that the Library of Congress and GPO don’t show it on their databases.
Part of me wants to think that Toomey doesn't really want to alienate the gun-owning portion of his constituency; he just drinks the "92% of Americans and 80% of NRA members support universal background checks" Kool-Aid.
And then I think, with gun owners melting his switchboard in opposition, he can't possibly be that dense, and so he must not have any respect for gun owners and must not want to keep his Senate seat.
Don't forget that Manchin said, "due process is killing us " and argued to eliminate the constitutional right to due process.
I know. That was about the stupidest statement I've heard from any politician in a long while.