Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin Disrupts Party’s Push To Pass Expanded Background Check Gun Control Bill

Predictably, Democrats immediately used the Boulder, Colorado shooting spree to push for gun control. Mass shootings are their go-to springboard for pearl-clutching moments to fear the public into thinking that new gun control bills will be the savior of all mankind.

While they might be able to sway some portion of the smooth-brained Democrat voters across the country, any reasonable, logical person understands that enhanced background checks and other weird rules are not going to stop the primary source of gun violence, which happens every single day in the streets of Democrat-run major cities.

Recently, the House passed a new gun control measure that would, among other things, would require background checks be performed for private firearm transfers and also extend the window required for federal agencies to complete a background check.

Again, anyone with even a remote shred of logical reasoning ability understands that criminals who use guns for violence will not be affected by such measures, whatsoever. In fact, the only people hurt by the Democrats’ “commonsense gun control” ideas are law-abiding, American firearms owners.

That’s a concept that even Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin understands, which is presumably why he has chosen to break ranks with his own party on the newly-passed House bill, according to The Hill.

When asked this week if he supports the House-passed bill, Manchin’s answer was crystal clear.

“What the House passed? Not at all,” the moderate Democrat said.

While the West Virginia Democrat does support some enhancement to the background checks of commercial sales — like when a person purchases a firearm from a gun store, Manchin does not believe that FBI background checks should be involved when it comes to private transfers or sales.

“If I know a person, no,” Manchin said, when asked if he supports FBI checks for private sales.

Manchin’s opposition to the bill could prove fatal for Democrats and their new push to pass gun control bills to appease their sheep-like constituents. That’s because with a 50-50 split in the upper chamber, Democrats literally can’t afford to lose even a single member on a given piece of legislation.

Even if Democrats manage to end the Senate filibuster, which is closer to reality than ever before, Manchin’s defection would still make it virtually impossible to pass such radical, anti-Second Amendment legislation, unless Democratic leadership manages to convince Republican senators to get on board, which is also unlikely given that it would be career suicide for any Republican to side with Democrats on a gun control bill.

While Manchin’s moderate politics might not always favor Republicans on certain pieces of legislation, at least on the core issues, like the Second Amendment, it’s nice to know at least one Democrat still respects the rights afforded to law-abiding citizens in the U.S. Constitution.