Sinema’s Mixed Record On Gun Safety Is a Pattern
Just hours before another mass shooting took the lives of at least 18 people in Maine, Kyrsten Sinema voted to approve a Republican-led amendment that would limit the Department of Veterans Affairs’ ability to share information with the FBI’s database for gun background checks, reports the Arizona Republic.
This isn’t the first time Sinema voted with Republicans to block preventative gun safety measures: in 2017, she voted to prevent VA coordination with the background check system, and also voted that year to block an Obama-era rule designed to keep guns out of the hands of an estimated 75,000 people with mental disorders. In 2018, she voted to allow deadly firearms to be carried on public land.
Sinema loves to take credit for last year’s bipartisan gun control deal, which was an important step in the right direction. However, Sinema’s refusal to change filibuster rules – “I saved the Senate filibuster by myself. I saved the Senate by myself.” –prevented Democrats from enacting more sweeping gun violence prevention measures, including:
- Universal background checks
- Assault Weapons Ban
- High-Capacity Magazines ban
“Kyrsten Sinema takes credit for half measures while standing in the way of widely-supported policies like universal background checks and the assault weapons ban. Now, she’s making it harder for the background check system to do its job. One more reason why Arizonans are fed up with Sinema’s brand of politics and will send her packing next year,” said Sacha Haworth, Replace Sinema spokesperson.
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Arizona Republic: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema voted to limit background check reporting hours before Maine shootings
by Laura Gersony // October 28, 2023
An Army reservist, who has reportedly shown symptoms of mental health issues in recent months, allegedly shot and killed 18 people Wednesday in Lewiston, Maine.
Earlier that day, the U.S. Senate voted to approve a Republican-led amendment that would limit the Department of Veterans Affairs’ ability to relay information about some veterans, including those with certain mental health issues, to an FBI database used for gun background checks.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., was one of only five non-Republican senators to vote in favor of the measure.
According to the bill’s sponsor, the VA is required to report people to the FBI’s criminal background check system whenever a fiduciary is appointed to help the person manage their VA benefits.
The Senate-approved amendment would prohibit the VA from relaying that information to the database, unless a judge rules that the person poses a danger to themselves or others.
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Asked on Friday about Sinema’s vote, Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who is running for the Senate seat she currently holds, said that he would have voted against the measure.
“Our criminal background system is very important. It’s one of the few things that does work to stop people that shouldn’t be owning weapons (from) buying weapons. And anything that diminishes that, I think, is not going to keep Americans safe,” Gallego said Friday at a news conference on another topic.
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