Pelosi called Wednesday’s defeat of the Manchin-Toomey amendment 'disappointing.' Pelosi says gun control push not over

House Democrats will continue to push for gun control legislation despite the Senate’s failure to pass a bipartisan agreement to expand background checks, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told reporters Thursday.

“It’s disappointing,” Pelosi said of Wednesday’s defeat of the Manchin-Toomey amendment in the Senate. “But again, it’s going to energize the efforts so that even more attention is paid on the choices made here in Congress and who is on the side of the safety of our children.”


Pelosi said voters should now focus their efforts on the House version of the Toomey-Manchin amendment introduced by Reps. Peter King (R-N.Y.) and Mike Thompson (D-Calif.). The bill calls for expanding checks for commercial gun purchases, including those made at gun shows.

Thompson repeatedly told reporters the Wednesday vote was not going to be the end of gun control legislation in Congress.

“We’ll recalculate and get our bearings and go forward on this,” Thompson said. “What gives me the confidence? It’s the voters that we all represent.”

Thompson said he has had discussions with other members to convince them to add their names to the bill as co-sponsors. But with little appetite to overhaul gun laws among House Republicans, the Democrats will likely need to file a discharge petition to bring the bill to the floor.

“The process on where to go from here is we will be collecting any bipartisan sign up as co-sponsors of the bill, which is already bipartisan… What we want also is a vote,” Pelosi said. The American people can say to the leadership in Congress to Speaker Boehner, ‘Give us a vote.’ As you can see, we’re just not taking no for an answer.”

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Gun Control