(Washington) – Today Congressman John B. Larson made the following statement after the U.S. Senate rejected a bipartisan proposal expanding background checks to all commercial gun sales:

"I commend Joe Manchin and Pat Toomey for coming up with a rational approach that ninety-two percent of Americans all agree with, and the need for universal background checks as it relates to our gun laws. The bill was taken up today in the Senate and the vote was 54-46. Every fifth grader in America is astounded that that bill was defeated. Only in the United States Senate, the other body, could that take place - that a vote of 54-46 would not pass.

"And so, disheartening as it is, and while we are still reeling from events that have taken place in Boston on Patriot's Day, children all across America cannot be reassured by their parents that they are any safer tonight. And while the NRA may sleep well this evening, Americans remain confounded that a majority of Senators voting for common-sense background checks are defeated by the machinations of Senate rules.

"The parents and families of Newtown who have lobbied so hard remain our inspiration. There is another chamber and another opportunity for the House of Representatives to speak its will on the violence that has been perpetrated across this country. If these young children had the courage to go after their assailant, if the teacher stepped in the way to protect them, then the House must show the same courage. But the American people must engage them and insist on a vote. To do otherwise is to be complicit."

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