VOA常速英语:Senate Gun Control Votes Expected, Following Orlando Mass-Shooting

Church bells tolled in Orlando precisely one week after Omar Mateen began shooting at Pulse Nightclub.By day, grieving families are laying victims to rest.

“We’ve done nothing. Nothing at all.I’ve had enough of the ongoing slaughter of innocents, and I’ve had enough of inaction in this body.”

Democrats commandeered the Senate floor for 15 hours demanding votes on long-stalled legislation to curb gun violence.

“Enough. Enough. Enough. We cannot go on with business as usual in this body.”

Republicans insisted a focus on gun control is misguided.

“We need a strategy to defeat ISIS, which is the inspiration for these homegrown attacks here at home.”

But Republicans agreed to allow votes later Monday.

“We got a commitment from Republicans to bring two measures to the floor of the Senate for a vote: one that expands out the number of background checks that are conducted, and the second that keeps terrorists off the list of people who can buy guns.”

Votes are also expected on Republican alternatives that spell out the rights of gun owners.

“We don’t want terrorists to be able to walk in to a gun store and buy a gun. And we don’t want an innocent, law-abiding citizen to be denied his Second Amendment rights because he is wrongly on a list with a bunch of terrorists. This is not rocket science.”

Senate action on gun control is considered unlikely, House action even more so.

“Is going after the Second Amendment how you stop terrorism? No, that’s not how you stop terrorism.”

That view is echoed by America’s biggest gun rights lobby.

“This notion that more gun control is going to prevent some jihadist who thinks that he is going to obtain martyrdom by murdering innocent people really gets away from the serious nature of the problem we’re facing.We want to make sure the terrorists don’t have access to farms. ”

In Orlando last week, a presidental plea to overcome political divides.

“I held and hugged grieving family members and parents. And they asked, why does this keep happening? And they pleaded that we do more to stop the carnage. They don’t care about the politics.”

Democrats and Republicans both fear the Orlando attack will not be America’s last mass-shooting.

For now, that is where bipartisanship ends.

Michael Bowman VOA NEWS, Washington.