It’s bad enough they are getting the opportunity to vote on this amendment. But at least it’s looking like we may win this fight after all – if we can keep our 41 votes:

FOX NEWS – Senate Democrats are trying desperately to round up a bipartisan coalition in advance of a critical round of gun-control votes Wednesday afternoon, as fence-sitting Republicans began to peel away and new polling showed ebbing public support for tightening gun laws.

After days of backroom wrangling, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid lined up a vote on nine amendments for late Wednesday. The first, on a compromise proposal to loosen the firearms bill’s background checks provision, is considered the most vital.

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Democrats face a heavy lift, as they must round up a 60-vote majority. They did so last week on a procedural vote, but that coalition now appears to be eroding.

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Manchin reportedly said he does not have 60 — but then his office released a statement saying he “remains optimistic and hopeful that if Senators and the American people read the bill, they will support his commonsense approach to require criminal and mental background checks for advertised sales, including purchases at gun shows and online sales, without infringing on Americans’ Second Amendment rights.”

The vote math depicts a steep uphill climb for Democrats. Opponents will need just 41 of the Senate’s 100 votes to derail the Manchin-Toomey background check plan.

Thirty-one senators voted last week to completely block debate on overall gun legislation. Just two were Democrats — Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Mark Begich of Alaska.

If all 31 oppose the Manchin-Toomey measure — and that is not certain — opponents would need just 10 more votes to prevail.

So far, 11 of 16 Republicans who voted last week to let debate on the gun bill begin have said they will oppose Manchin-Toomey. That would give foes of expanded background checks 42 potential votes — one more than they need to win.

Among the latest to announce opposition was Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev.

“I believe very strongly that our current background check system needs strengthening and improving, particularly in areas that could keep guns out of the hands of felons and the mentally ill. At the same time, I cannot support legislation that infringes upon the constitutional right to keep and bear arms,” Heller said in a statement.

So far, just three Republican senators have committed to voting for the amendment.

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