Last updated on March 16th, 2019 at 12:02 pm

Ari Melber tore into Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday for singlehandedly standing in the way of common sense gun reform legislation that will save lives.

In a special report, the MSNBC host focused on how McConnell is preventing a vote in the Senate on new legislation passed by House Democrats that would expand background checks on gun sales.

“McConnell is facing a Congress that is increasingly united against him on these background checks and a caucus of senators who, however genuinely they may feel compassion for victims of the shootings, are voting down the most basic bills to keep guns out of the hands of convicted felons who carry out these shootings,” Melber said.

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Melber said:

He gets to decide. And tonight, we asked Senator McConnell’s office whether he will decide to hold a vote on that bill that I’ve been reporting on that the House sent over on the background checks and tonight his office says they don’t have any announcements beyond this week’s schedule. No vote yet. But McConnell is facing a Congress that is increasingly united against him on these background checks and a caucus of senators who, however genuinely they may feel compassion for victims of the shootings, are voting down the most basic bills to keep guns out of the hands of convicted felons who carry out these shootings. Now in D.C., this is not considered one of the top stories right now. But given the House vote and given the rate of mass murder and the preventable part that could be played if we had these background checks enforced, maybe this should be one of the top stories in Washington right now.

Mitch McConnell and the GOP are putting NRA money over American lives

Even as large majorities of Democrats, Republicans, Independents and even gun owners support expanded and life-saving background checks on firearm sales, McConnell – as of now – continues to stand in the way.

This should come as no surprise. In addition to his A+ rating from the NRA, the corrupt gun organization gave a stunning $50 million to Trump and Republican candidates during the 2016 election cycle.

So far, the gun lobby investments appear to be paying off as GOP members of Congress continue to offer nothing more than their meaningless thoughts and prayers, even as communities all across the country continue to be torn apart by gun violence.

With McConnell up for reelection in 2020, there’s a slim chance that he will allow any meaningful gun reform legislation to get through his chamber of Congress, no matter what Democrats pass in the House of Representatives.

To Mitch McConnell and too many other NRA-owned Republican lawmakers, public safety doesn’t matter so long as their campaign checks keep cashing.

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Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.

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