WASHINGTON, D.C. (WMOT) -- Tennessee’s Republican Senators voted strictly along party lines yesterday when gun safety bills inspired by the Orlando terror attack came up for consideration at the nation’s capital.
The Nashville Posts reports that Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker voted in favor of GOP measures that would have prevented individual gun purchases to anyone on government watch lists, but only if a prosecutor was convinced that person was a threat. They also voted to expand resources for gun sales background checks.
Alexander and Corker joined most fellow Republicans in voting against Democratic proposals to prohibit guns sales to everyone on government watch lists and required universal background checks.
Corker released a statement about the votes saying he favored denying guns to terrorists, criminals and the mentally ill, but also says “we must protect the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans."