Senate Gun Votes in 2013

Senate Gun Votes in 2013

Gun owners dodged a bullet in 2013, after the President launched a full-scaled attack on the Second Amendment rights of Americans.  Thankfully, he came away with absolutely nothing to show for it, legislatively speaking.

In an attempt to hold Senators accountable, the following are the gun-related votes cast in 2013.  Each description below contains an explanation of each vote, along with the URL where each vote can be found on the Senate website:

1. Anti-gun judge defeated. With 60 votes needed to end a filibuster of Caitlin Halligan’s confirmation, the Senate failed to invoke cloture on March 6, 2013 by a 51-41 vote.  As New York’s Solicitor General, Halligan was one of the chief lawyers responsible for New York’s baseless and politically motivated efforts to bankrupt gun manufacturers using frivolous litigation. She stated in a speech on May 5, 2003, that “handgun manufacturers [should be held] liable for criminal acts committed with handguns.”  GOA scored a NAY vote against cloture — thus keeping Halligan from being confirmed to the DC Court of Appeals — as a pro-gun vote.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00030

2. Banning future gun control. With 60 votes needed for passage, a Mike Lee amendment lost by a vote of 50-49 on March 23, 2013.  The Lee amendment would prohibit any future gun control legislation which does not have a 2/3 vote in the Senate.  GOA scored a YEA vote in favor of the Lee amendment to the budget resolution as a pro-gun vote.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00087

3. Banning UN gun control. The Senate passed the Inhofe anti-UN treaty amendment by a 53-46 margin on March 23, 2013.  The James Inhofe amendment would prevent the United States from entering into the UN Arms Trade Treaty — a treaty that would impose gun registration and possibly even ban handguns and semi-autos, while creating a microstamping requirement that would be technologically impossible to comply with.  GOA scored a YEA vote in favor of the Inhofe amendment to the budget resolution as a pro-gun vote.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00091

4. Veterans Gun Ban (1). The Senate overcame the Paul-Cruz-Lee filibuster of Harry Reid’s gun control bill on April 11, 2013 — voting to shut down a filibuster of the motion to proceed to S. 649 by a margin of 68-31.  The Reid bill would send a person to prison for 15 years for selling a gun to a veteran, without realizing that he was one of the 150,000-plus military veterans who was put into the NICS system for PTSD.  The bill also contained Chuck Schumer’s universal gun registry language.  GOA scored a NAY vote against cloture on the motion to proceed as a pro-gun vote.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00095

5. Veterans Gun Ban (2). With 60 votes needed for passage, the Leahy amendment failed by a vote of 58-42 on April 17, 2013.  Similar to the underlying Reid bill (S. 649), the Pat Leahy amendment would send a person to prison for 15 years for selling a gun to a veteran, without realizing that he was one of the 150,000-plus military veterans who was put into the NICS system for PTSD. GOA scored a NAY vote against the Leahy amendment to S. 649 as a pro-gun vote.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00099

6. Background checks and gun registry. With 60 votes needed for passage, the Toomey-Manchin-Schumer amendment was shot down by a vote of 54-46 on April 17, 2013.  Among other things, this provision would have:  (1) Imposed, for the first time ever, a ban on many, many private sales of firearms — requiring buyers to first get permission from the government; (2) Swept virtually ALL private gun sales into the background check system, as all gun sales advertised in a bulletin, the Internet or even a yard sign could have been covered; and, (3) Expanded the framework for a massive, national gun registry by potentially adding millions of private gun sales into the NICS system.  GOA scored a NAY vote against the Toomey-Manchin-Schumer amendment to S. 649 as a pro-gun vote.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00097

7. Concealed Carry Reciprocity. With 60 votes needed for passage, the Cornyn-Vitter-Thune amendment failed by a vote of 57-43 on April 17, 2013.  This provision would have allowed concealed carry holders and persons in constitutional carry states to carry nationwide. GOA scored a YEA vote in favor of the Cornyn-Vitter-Thune amendment to S. 649 as a pro-gun vote.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00100

8. Feinstein Gun Ban. With 60 votes needed for passage, the Feinstein gun ban fell far short — by a vote of 40-60 on April 17, 2013.  The Dianne Feintstein provision would have covered shotguns, rifles and handguns that millions of Americans legally own. GOA scored a NAY vote against the Feinstein amendment to S. 649 as a pro-gun vote.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00101

9. Burr protection for veterans. With 60 votes needed for passage, the Burr amendment failed by a vote of 56-44 on April 17, 2013.  The Richard Burr amendment would have protected future veterans from losing their gun rights for ailments such as PTSD and could have possibly restored the gun rights of 165,000 veterans — who are currently barred — by requiring that no veteran can lose his gun rights because of a psychiatrist’s diagnosis.  GOA scored a YEA vote in favor of the Burr amendment to S. 649 as a pro-gun vote.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00102

10. Magazine limitation. With 60 votes needed for passage, the Lautenberg magazine ban fell far short — by a vote of 46-54 on April 17, 2013.  The Frank Lautenberg amendment would have capped all future magazines owned by the public at ten rounds — and its language was so slipshod that it might have outlawed other magazines as well.  GOA scored a NAY vote against the Lautenberg amendment to S. 649 as a pro-gun vote.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00103

11. Protecting gun owners’ privacy. The Senate passed the Barrasso amendment by a vote of 67-30 on April 18, 2013.  The John Barrasso language would cut off funds to states that release gun owners’ names.  GOA scored a YEA vote in favor of the Barrasso amendment to S. 649 as a pro-gun vote.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00104

12. Anti-gun Amnesty. On June 27, 2013, the Senate voted 68-32 in favor of the immigration bill (S. 744).  The amnesty provisions of the bill would add up to a net 8.4 million anti-gun voters over the next 13 years or so — and could eventually make comprehensive gun control and confiscation inevitable.  Moreover, the bill moves us down the road toward a de facto National ID card, something which GOA has long opposed because of the danger that such data collection poses to gun owners’ privacy.  Finally, the bill would undercut the ability of gun rights activists to fight universal background checks and gun registries.  (By requiring Americans to get the government’s permission to get a job, the bill helps instill a “permission” mindset that greases the skids for additional background check requirements.) GOA scored a NAY vote against the bill as a pro-gun vote.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00168

13. Filibuster of ATF Director. On July 31, 2013, the Senate voted (60-40) to end a filibuster of Obama’s choice for ATF Director.  B. Todd Jones had served as the acting director of the ATF for almost two years, and yet he’d refused to clean up the rampant corruption at ATF or to discipline any of the agents who helped orchestrate Operation Fast & Furious.  The filibuster was the best opportunity to defeat the Jones nomination — given that 60 votes were needed to move the nomination for a final vote.  A NAY vote against cloture on the B. Todd Jones nomination is a vote to continue the filibuster, and is rated as a pro-gun vote.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00196

14. Confirmation of ATF Director. On July 31, 2013, the Senate confirmed Obama’s choice for ATF Director by a 53-42 vote.  B. Todd Jones had served as the acting director of the ATF for almost two years, and yet he’d refused to clean up the rampant corruption at ATF or to discipline any of the agents who helped orchestrate Operation Fast & Furious.  A NAY vote against the B. Todd Jones nomination is rated as a pro-gun vote.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00197

15. Defunding anti-gun ObamaCare (first filibuster). On September 27, 2013, the Senate voted to end a filibuster waged by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) to defund the anti-gun ObamaCare mandate.  Continued funding of the ObamaCare mandate means that doctors will be able to ask their patients about guns,(†) and health information will be used to deny guns to millions of Americans — just as more than 150,000 military veterans have already been denied.  Because the filibuster sought to stop the bill that funded ObamaCare, this vote (and the one on October 16) was the best opportunity to defeat the ObamaCare mandate — given that 60 votes were needed to move the underlying bill along and bring it to the Senate floor for a final vote.  A NAY vote against cloture on the continuing resolution (H.J.Res. 59) is a vote to continue the filibuster, and is rated as a pro-gun vote.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00206

16. Defunding anti-gun ObamaCare (second filibuster). On October 16, 2013, the Senate voted to end debate — that is, to end a filibuster — on a giant appropriations bill (HR 2775) that continued to fund ObamaCare.  The purpose of the filibuster was to force Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to allow Republicans to offer an amendment to strip the anti-gun ObamaCare mandate — something Reid refused to do.  Continued funding of the ObamaCare mandate means that doctors will be able to ask their patients about guns,(†) and health information will be used to deny guns to millions of Americans — just as more than 150,000 military veterans have already been denied.  A NAY vote against ending debate on the appropriations bill is a vote to continue the filibuster, and is rated as a pro-gun vote.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00218

17. Defunding anti-gun ObamaCare (final passage). On October 16, 2013, the Senate passed the continuing resolution (HR 2775), which contained funding for the anti-gun ObamaCare mandate.  Continued funding of the ObamaCare mandate means that doctors will be able to ask their patients about guns,(†) and health information will be used to deny guns to millions of Americans — just as more than 150,000 military veterans have already been denied.  A NAY vote against the continuing resolution (HR 2775) is rated as a pro-gun vote.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00219

18. Anti-gun judge defeated. With 60 votes needed to end a filibuster of Robert Wilkins’ confirmation to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Senate failed to invoke cloture on November 18, 2013, by a 53-38 vote.  Wilkins was the D.C. District Court judge who decided in 2012 that non-resident U.S. citizens do not have the Second Amendment right to purchase a firearm [Dearth v. Holder, 893 F.Supp. 59 (2012)].  GOA scored a NAY vote against cloture — thus keeping Wilkins from being confirmed to the DC Court of Appeals — as a pro-gun vote.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00235

19. Opening the door to scores of anti-gun judges and even overturning Heller. On November 21, 2013, Harry Reid pulled the trigger on the “nuclear option,” which means that now only a simple majority of Senators (rather than 60 votes) is needed to end a filibuster on an anti-gun judicial nomination.  Reid did this for the ostensible purpose of packing the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals with three anti-gun judges — one of whom has held that the Second Amendment doesn’t protect the right to purchase firearms. But this vote now means that the Senate effectively has no rules and that, if Supreme Court “swing vote” Anthony Kennedy were to die or resign, Obama would shove through another virulently anti-gun Justice with a simple majority vote.  The “Obama Court” could then reverse the pro-gun Heller (2008) and McDonald (2010) decisions. The vote to invoke the “nuclear option” was very close (48-52).  The 48 YEAS were the pro-gun votes, as they were cast in an effort to uphold the Senate Parliamentarian’s ruling that 60 votes are needed to end a filibuster on a judicial nomination.

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=113&session=1&vote=00242


† While ObamaCare technically forbids the government from requiring doctors to ask their patients about guns in the home, President Obama’s Executive Action #16 in January, 2013, effectively invalidated this prohibition — stating that “the Affordable Care Act does not prohibit doctors asking their patients about guns in their homes.”