Four gun control measures were defeated in the Senate on Monday; two from Democrats and two from Republicans. The focus of the debate between the two sides has been on who is affected by new restrictions on fire arms purchases, with the Democrats pushing for broader restrictions for a larger number of people on various FBI and security lists and the Republicans proposing narrower restriction for a smaller number of suspected terrorists. On Tuesday there have been signs of a compromise gun control bill between Democrats and Republicans.
Here are a few key points on the gun control debate.
After defeating initial gun measures on Monday, June 22nd, the Republicans appear to be compromising on the two narrower lists of people to ban from purchasing firearms. This list has about 109,000 people, presumably from the 81,000 on the FBI no-fly list and the 28,000 from the FBI's "TSA selectee list." At issue is the perpetual expansion of curtailments of civil liberties and constitutional rights under the guise of fighting terrorism. Neither Trump nor Clinton has uttered a single word in criticism of the ever expanding police state, and Democrats and Republicans both seem united in using the Orland tragedy as a pretext for expanded state powers.
The FBI's no-fly list contains about 81,000 names, but fewer than 1,000 of those are "U.S. persons," a top lawmaker revealed Monday, giving the outlines of the secretive program on the floor of the Senate.
Another list maintained by the FBI, dubbed the "TSA selectee list" because it triggers higher scrutiny but doesn't ban flying, has some 28,000 records, of which fewer than 1,700 are U.S. persons, Sen. Dianne Feinstein said as she argued for denying gun sales to those who appear on the lists, in the wake of the Orlando terrorist shooting.
Democrats say those lists and a broader list, the Terrorist Screening Database, with about 1 million names, should be used to deny potential terrorists lethal weapons. Mrs. Feinstein has proposed banning those who appear on any of the lists from being able to clear a background check enabling them to purchase a firearm.
Republicans argue the lists are too broad, and are riddled with errors that, if followed, would deny law-abiding Americans their Second Amendment rights without due process of law.
The lists have been controversial for years, and how someone gets on them is shrouded in mystery.