Although the U.S. Senate has dealt an apparently fatal blow to congressional efforts to approve gun control, some House members aren’t ready to throw in the towel.
Reps. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., and Peter King, R-N.Y., have released a statement saying there is “growing momentum” for their bill that would expand FBI background checks of prospective gun buyers.
Thompson and King on Tuesday released the names of about 150 lawmakers, including every member of the Connecticut House delegation, who co-sponsored their bill. The proposal is identical to the one that failed last month in the Senate.
The problem is that only three of them are Republicans. Pennsylvania Reps. Mike Fitzpatrick and Pat Meehan, are the only GOP members besides King to support the bill.
If all members of the House are available for voting, 218 votes would be needed to approve a bill. So the gun-control bill supporters need to pick up as many as 68 more votes — that’s if GOP House leaders even allow the bill to come to the floor.