Between an overnight House sit-in and a 15-hour Senate filibuster, Congressional Democrats have dedicated 41 hours to demanding votes on gun-control measures, but have little to show for their efforts after other major news stories overshadowed them.
The nation's attention has been captured by Great Britain's "Brexit" vote to leave the European Union,
writes The Washington Post's Amber Phillips, and by the Supreme Court's rulings on immigration and on leaving assault weapons bans in place.
But by Friday, when a bipartisan group of House lawmakers unveiled a gun-control compromise bill, few paid attention.
There was a great deal of coverage on the calls for gun-control legislation, coming in the wake of the Orlando nightclub shootings earlier this month, but it still remains difficult to pass new federal laws. Even with the compromise bill, it is likely not much will happen following the Democrats' filibuster and sit-in.
For one thing, a Senate compromise bill offered by Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins got just 52 votes in favor through a test vote, but Senate Republican leaders wanted the measure to gain 60 test votes before they put it up for an actual vote.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, meanwhile, said he did not want to bring up legislation for a gun ban for those on the nation's terrorism watch lists unless a similar measure had strong Senate support.
Also, writes Phillips, Ryan sees voting on a House compromise as rewarding Democrats for their sit-in, which he has called a "fundraising scene," not an actual protest on the issues.
In addition, there are not enough supporters, as Democrats say the measures don't go far enough and Republicans find them too strict.
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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