‘Shame on you!’ was shouted on Wednesday by two women whose lives were affected by recent gun violence after lawmakers shot down a bill that would expand background checks on gun sales.
Patricia Maisch took the gun magazine from Jared Loughner, who shot and killed six people and wounded several more, including former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona, according to CNN.
“Because they are an embarrassment to this country that they don’t' have any compassion or care for people who have been taken brutally from their families,” she said.
The other woman was Lori Hass of Virginia, whose daughter was shot during the Virginia Tech mass shooting.
“There’s been 187,000 Americans killed since Virginia Tech. My daughter was shot and injured six years ago yesterday,” she said.
The two women were escorted out of the building but it did not appear they were charged.
The background check legislation has been viewed by many as a last-ditch effort to initiate meaningful steps towards gun control.
The mandate only got 54 “yes” votes, which included four Republicans but that was not enough to clear the 60-vote hurdle required to bypass a GOP filibuster.
“This effort isn’t over,” President Barack Obama vowed at the White House moments after the defeat on one of his top domestic priorities. Surrounded by Newtown relatives, he said opponents of the legislation in both parties “caved to the pressure” of special interests.
But Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa shot back and said, “Expanded background checks would not have prevented Newtown. Criminals do not submit to background checks.”
Even before the votes, the administration signaled the day’s events would not be the last word on an issue that Democratic leaders shied away from for nearly two decades until Obama picked up on it after the Newtown shootings.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
