Senate Democrats claimed a small victory early Thursday, forcing the US upper house to consider legislation to help keep guns out of the hands of terrorism suspects. The move, which could break a years-long logjam on gun control, follows demands for action after the weekend massacre of 49 people at a gay night-club in Florida. Democrats took to the floor of the Republican-controlled Senate Wednesday to launch a procedural obstruction, known as a filibuster, to press colleagues to accept so-called "no-fly no buy" legislation.
Under it, people on watch lists or no-fly lists would be barred from buying firearms. The filibuster was led by Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, where a 2012 school shooting left 20 children dead. "I'm at my wits' end," said Murphy, as he began on Wednesday morning his hours-long takeover. "I'm going to remain on this floor until we get some signal, some sign that we can come together." Murphy, with support from 40 senators including Republican Pat Toomey, spent hours discussing ways to reduce gun violence.
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