Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) does not intend to revisit the push for new laws to expand background checks on gun buyers in the wake of the mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, an aide to the lawmaker told Politico on Tuesday.
Manchin’s background checks amendment, which he co-authored with Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), became the legislative focal point in the debate over gun control following last year’s massacre in Newtown, Conn. The measure ultimately fell short in the Senate after drawing opposition from nearly every Republican and four red state Democrats.
But Monday’s deadly shooting in Washington prompted gun control advocates to speak out. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) alluded to the Manchin-Toomey amendment in a floor speech Tuesday, arguing that the latest mass shooting serves as a reminder that Congress should do more to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill.