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SALT LAKE CITY — In the ongoing debate about gun control, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has said that a vote on gun control legislation will be soon. However, a group of Republican senators have vowed to block the vote with a filibuster attempt.
Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Mike Lee, R-Utah, said this week that they are planning to filibuster any attempts to pass gun control legislation. On Tuesday, the group of senators sent a letter to Reid's office, informing him of their attempts to oppose any legislation that "will serve as a vehicle for any additional gun restrictions."
"We, the undersigned, intend to oppose any legislation that would infringe on the American people's constitutional right to bear arms, or on their ability to exercise this right without being subject to government surveillance," the trio wrote.
"The Second Amendment to the Constitution protects citizens' right to self-defense," the letter continues. "It speaks to history's lesson that government cannot be in all places at all times, and history's warning about the oppression of a government that tries."
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., signed onto the letter Thursday, agreeing to take part in a filibuster attempt.
Any legislation that would restrict our basic right to self-defense deserves robust and open debate. Requiring a 60-vote threshold helps ensure that we have that debate rather than skipping directly to the back room deals, horse trading, and business-as-usual politics that typifies the way Congress passes legislation today.
–Sen. Mike Lee
President Barack Obama called on lawmakers Thursday to not forget about the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., where 20 children were killed. He said Americans should not "get squishy" when combating the forces against gun control legislation.
"Shame on us if we've forgotten," Obama said. "I haven't forgotten those kids."
Lee responded to Obama's comments Thursday, saying that any gun control legislation would have "no effect on violent crime."
"The proposals the president is calling for Congress to pass would primarily serve to reduce the constitutionally protected rights of law-abiding citizens while having little or no effect on violent crime," Lee said in prepared statement. "It is deeply unfortunate that he continues to use the tragedy of Newtown as a backdrop for pushing legislation that would have done nothing to prevent that horrible crime."
Lee added that the group of senators plan to filibuster any attempts to control gun rights because the debate is "more than magazine clips and pistol grips."
"It is about the purpose of the Second Amendment and why our constitutionally protected right to self-defense is an essential part of self-government," Lee said. "Any legislation that would restrict our basic right to self-defense deserves robust and open debate. Requiring a 60-vote threshold helps ensure that we have that debate rather than skipping directly to the back room deals, horse trading and business-as-usual politics that typifies the way Congress passes legislation today."
The group of senators were responsible for the most recent filibuster attempt, when Paul spoke on the Senate floor for 13 hours in an effort to block the nomination of CIA Director John Brennan and to send a message to the Obama administration over their policy on using drone strikes on American citizens on U.S. soil.
