In recent years, the increasing partisan divisions within Congress have made it very difficult to pass legislation, especially in relation to highly divisive issues such as gun control. In June 2016 Chris Murphy’s (D–Connecticut) 15-hour filibuster led to a vote on the expansion of federal background checks on gun sales and a ban on sales to individuals on the government’s terrorist watch list.
However, both proposals failed due to highly partisan voting. Mark Kirk (R–Illinois) was the only Republican to vote in favour of both gun control measures and four Democrats voted against their party on one or both amendments.
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