GOP senator blocks Dem's effort to push gun bill amid California shooting

An impromptu effort to pass a gun background check bill in the Senate unanimously was quickly nixed by a Republican senator who said it would infringe on Second Amendment rights, as news of a mass shooting at a California high school came rolling in Thursday morning.

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut requested that the universal background check bill, H.R. 8, be passed by unanimous consent -- a procedural move that allows a bill to skip several steps, including debate, to pass unanimously, without senators casting an individual vote.
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