Gun Vote

Daschle Voted With Them. By allowing their gun control amendments, Daschle made the death of the gun manufacturer liability legislation inevitable. Gun rights groups are ripping Daschle for allowing the "poison pill" amendments. Here's more from the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms:

"We have seen from the votes today that Tom Daschle and the Democrats have talked about supporting gun rights, but their votes today prove once again they cannot be trusted to protect and defend those rights," [Chairman Alan] Gottlieb said. "They are using a legitimate piece of legislation as a Trojan Horse in an attempt to further encumber America's law-abiding firearms owners. Even John Kerry, who has missed 70 percent of his votes in the 108th Congress, took time away from his presidential campaign to show up and vote against the rights of gun owning Americans."

CCRKBA Executive Director Joe Waldron added, "For months, Daschle and the Democrats have been working overtime in an attempt to convince gun-owning Americans that they have changed their positions on gun rights issues. Today's votes prove that's a lie. They only changed their message, not their agenda, which is to support additional restrictions on shooters, hunters and firearms collectors, and to maintain a law that ten years worth of history has proven to have had no effect on crime."

The NRA is keeping track of who voted which way, as The Hill notes:

NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre wrote to lawmakers following passage of the amendments, saying his group opposed final passage. LaPierre made it clear that the vote would “be used in our future evaluations and endorsements of candidates” for the Senate.

The collapse of the legislation was utterly unexpected. Even yesterday afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) were indicating that the bill would pass, and Frist planned to get it to conference quickly.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said she had secured a “commitment” from Daschle not to go to conference unless he received assurance that the assault-weapons ban would remain in the final bill.

Again, one doubts Feinstein is on Daschle's Christmas card list.