Rifts in Both Parties Complicate Odds for Gun Measure
Deep divisions within both parties over a bipartisan measure to extend background checks for gun buyers are threatening its chances as the Senate this week begins debating the first broad gun control legislation in nearly 20 years.
In spite of a vote last Thursday in favor of debating new gun measures, some Democrats who are facing re-election next year in conservative states have already said they will not vote for the background check measure offered by Senators Patrick J. Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, and Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, forcing Democrats to look desperately across the aisle to fill the gaps.
Republicans, in the meantime, are bitterly torn between moderates who feel pressure to respond to polls showing a majority of Americans in support of some new gun regulations and conservatives who are deeply opposed to them.
Further, an impending immigration bill may force Republicans to choose between softening their stance on either immigration or guns, but not both.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/15/us/politics/party-rifts-complicate-chances-for-gun-bill-passage.html?_r=0
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