Giffords received a long ovation when she entered the Democratic Caucus. | John Shinkle/POLITICO Dems still short of 60 votes on guns

The Senate could vote as soon as Wednesday on a bipartisan proposal to expand background checks on firearm purchases, as a highly personal lobbying campaign continued on Capitol Hill.

But the White House and Democrats still lack the 60 votes they will need to pass the bill.


Former Rep. Gabby Giffords, who was seriously wounded in a Jan. 2011 shooting that left six other people dead, received a long ovation when she entered the Senate Democratic Caucus lunch on Tuesday with her husband Mark Kelly.

“She’s our whip,” said Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who along with Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) crafted the deal to extend background checks on commercial gun sales and close the so-called “gun show loophole.”

Giffords and Kelly are lobbying in favor of expanded background checks and also attended a ceremony dedicating a room in the Capitol Visitor Center to a Giffords aide killed in the 2011 shooting.

( Also on POLITICO: Mark Kelly: Gabby's doing great)

Kelly could be heard pressing Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, a fellow Arizona lawmaker who drove from Phoenix to Tuscon to be at Giffords’ beside after she was shot. Flake has said he will oppose the Manchin-Toomey proposal.

“Without a doubt, this bill saves lives,” Kelly said to Flake, a close friend.

The vast majority of GOP senators, along with the National Rifle Association, oppose the proposal, and there is little indication the Republican-controlled House would take up the bill even if it passes the Senate.

( Also on POLITICO: Gun control bill in peril)

Vice President Joe Biden in recent days has been calling red state Democrats like Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana to press her to back the Manchin-Toomey proposal.

“I’m still considering it… I haven’t made a final decision,” Landrieu said. “I have talked to Vice President Biden. We talked generally about the issue and [I] was happy to talk with him.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), however, said he remains hopeful it can pass.

“I think there’s significant momentum,” Reid told reporters on Tuesday afternoon. “Now, am I saying it’s all over with, done, we got the votes? No, but we certainly feel we have the wind at our back.”

Reid described a very emotional closed-door gathering of Senate Democrats with Giffords and Kelly. Connecticut Democrats Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, who have been pressing for new gun control measures following the tragic Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December that left 20 children dead, pleaded for support.

( PHOTOS: Senate guns hearing)

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), who was governor of Virginia when a gunman killed 32 people at Virginia Tech in 2007, also made an emotional plea.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who has sought to ban some types of assault weapons, also implored her colleagues to support the bipartisan agreement.

“It may not be everything I want, but it’s a step in the right direction,” Feinstein said, according to Democratic sources.

Earlier Tuesday, Reid said he and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) held “several constructive discussions” that could result in an agreement to move ahead on various amendments from each side.

If Reid and McConnell get a consent agreement to consider amendments, that vote could take place without having to file cloture on the legislation. But there would still be a 60-vote margin required to pass the Manchin-Toomey bill or any other legislation, the aides noted.

Reid and McConnell are negotiating over whether to allow each side three to four amendments on guns, aides said. Reid is pushing Feinstein’s proposed ban on assault weapons; a prohibition on high-capacity ammunition magazines by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.); and a plan by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) to expand mental health funding.

Democrats are hoping a bipartisan proposal by Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) would be accepted by voice vote.

McConnell is seeking votes on an alternative gun bill by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) designed to peel off GOP support for the Manchin-Toomey bill; a proposal by Sens. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to prevent the mentally ill from getting gun; and potentially a provision by Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) to grant “reciprocity” in other states for gun owners with “concealed carry permits.”

At this point, only four Senate Republicans — Toomey, Collins, and Sens. Mark Kirk (Ill.) and John McCain (Ariz.) — are backing the Manchin-Toomey plan, or have signaled they may do so.

Two Republicans — Sens. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Dean Heller of Nevada — are considered swing votes because they were among 16 Republicans who crossed the aisle and voted to begin debate on a gun bill. Neither Ayotte nor Heller has declared how they will vote on the bill, and their support could potentially help pass or doom the measure. If they both come out against the proposal, it will be nearly impossible to Democrats to get the 60 votes they need.

Several Democrats have so far not said whether they will vote for the proposal either, including Landrieu, Begich and Sens. Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Max Baucus of Montana. All four Democrats are up for reelection in 2014 in heavily red states.

Newly elected Democrats Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Donnelly of Indiana are also on the fence.