News
Sen. Portman Says Gun Bill Wouldn’t Have Prevented Tragedy
By: Michael Locklear
Posted on:
Ohio's two U.S. senators voted with their parties Wednesday on expanding gun background checks.
Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) says he voted against the measure because it wouldn't have made a difference in Newtown, the shooting at a Connecticut elementary school in December.
"I spent the time to analyze it," Portman said, "and I do not believe in the end, unfortunately, that it would be effective in preventing the kind of heart-breaking loss that we saw in Newtown or other recent tragic incidences."
Even though a majority of senators backed the measure, it didn't get the 60 votes needed to move forward.
Sen. Portman says he voted the way his constituents would have wanted because most of the people who wrote and called his office asked him to vote against the legislation.
"It does expand these checks, these background checks, to include private sales and transfers between individuals, and it does so in a way that obviously there are felonies attached to it, so it criminalizes actions of law-abiding citizens in terms of private sales and transfers."
Sen. Portman says he'll continue to look for solutions that address the underlying problem, the glorification of gun violence in pop culture.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) voted for the expansion of gun background checks.