Senate votes on gun measures
During 2001 to 2013, 406,496 people died by firearms on U.S. soil. That's the number that everyone should keep in mind this afternoon, while the Senate votes on gun measures.
They will take four procedural votes on gun measures: A pair on background checks and a pair on the "terror gap," from both parties.
The first vote is Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley's background check bill, followed by one on the issue from Democratic Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy. The next will be on GOP Texas Sen. John Cornyn's NRA-approved waiting period for potential terrorists, and finally Dianne Feinstein's terror gap bill.
The votes are all subject to a 60-vote majority. All will probably fail. In light of that, Vice President Joe Biden has some advice: "On Monday and beyond, make yourselves impossible to ignore. […] You know that by stepping up, your action has the potential to create a domino effect. Have the courage to do it. We have done it before. We can do it again."
The first amendment, from Grassley, fails to reach cloture. The vote was 53-47, the only defector being Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) who voted with Democrats because he really, really wants to be reelected.