Rand Paul Threatens Filibuster Of Senate Gun Bill

Senator Rand Paul, joined by Ted Cruz and Mike Lee, is threatening to block the Senate Gun Bill when it comes to the floor:

Sens. Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Mike Lee are threatening to filibuster gun-control legislation, according to a letter they plan to hand-deliver to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s office on Tuesday.

“We will oppose the motion to proceed to any legislation that will serve as a vehicle for any additional gun restrictions,” the three conservatives wrote in a copy of the signed letter obtained by POLITICO.

Reid plans to bring up a gun-control measure that focuses on broadening background checks and cracking down on interstate gun-trafficking after the current Senate recess.

Conservatives are concerned that once that bill reaches the floor, amendments could stiffen restrictions on gun control.

Moreover, they understand that Reid intends to allow liberal amendments that would limit clip capacity and ban certain assault weapons to be offered — even though they would be defeated — to give Democrats a chance to vote on them. For moderate Democrats in competitive states, that amounts to an opportunity to vote no and show allegiance to gun rights.

If the GOP Caucus stays relatively unified, there would be no way that Reid could get the 60 votes necessary to invoke cloture.

FILED UNDER: Congress, Guns and Gun Control, US Politics, , , , , , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Tsar Nicholas says:

    Meh. Political kabuki theater. Nothing the Senate would do on this subject could in any event get through the House. As far Paul, he’s merely ginning up his people. They’re young, cocooned, loopy, kooky, spooky, and have waaaaaay too much time on their hands. This sort of thing fires them up. They see him grandstanding and then they send him their money. Paul goes ahead and gladly takes their money. His father for years and years did that same thing. Rinse, repeat.

  2. greg says:

    @Tsar Nicholas:
    Finally, a post from you that is grounded in reality.

  3. al-Ameda says:

    Rand really belongs in the House – that’s where his people are, where they thrive.

  4. john personna says:

    If he is filibustering against the voters’ majority opinion, he might be going a bridge too far, and discarding political capital from the drone fight. Yes, he may raise money, but at the cost of moderate appeal.

    He becomes like his father, a crank who is sometimes right.

  5. john personna says:
  6. An Interested Party says:

    Finally, a post from you that is grounded in reality.

    He wouldn’t understand the irony of that…

  7. EddieInCA says:

    @bill:

    You mean the House of Representatives, which is in GOP control only due to gerrymandering?

    You mean the House of Representatives; the one where more people actually voted for Democrats than Republicans collectively?

    You mean the House of Representatives, where the GOP power is concentrated in the South, and has very little relative representation from the Northeast, West, and Upper Midwest?

    Yeah, that’s a more realistic representation of the country.

    Facts and the GOP: Divorced since 2000.

  8. The Q says:

    Eddie, great post.