Mitch McConnell Tables Gun Control, Focuses On Zika Virus

During the June 26 airing of ABC New’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said gun control is tabled and focus has shifted to the Zika virus.

Breitbart News previously reported that the Senate voted down four different gun control proposals on June 20, only to have McConnell agree to a vote for a fifth proposal sponsored by Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine). Collins proposal – which is yet another attempt to use the imprecise no-fly list as a basis for a gun purchase prohibition – has now been tabled.

Stephanopoulos introduced gun control by mentioning House Democrats’ failed gun control sit-in and Senator Chris Murphy’s (D-CT) fruitless “15-hour talkathon.” Describing Collins’ legislation as a “compromise” and the last hope for securing gun control at this time, Stephanopoulos asked, “Why did you vote to table [Collins’] compromise, even though it has the support not only of Republican and Democrat Senators, but also many former retired military leaders?”

McConnell responded:

Well, let me tell you what we agree on. We agree that terrorists shouldn’t have weapons. We agree that if you’re on those lists you should not be immediately able to purchase a firearm. We all agree on that. The problem is, we have a difference of opinion about a permanent blocking of the ability to exercise a constitutional right. Whether people like it or not, there is a constitutional right in our country, to own and possess a firearm.

McConnell went on to say the sticking point is a disagreement over “what burden of proof would be required” to ban certain people from buying guns. Until an agreement over this burden of proof is reached, the Senate is moving on to focus on other things. And the first of the other things is the Zika virus.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.