With Vice President Joe Biden presiding over the Senate, an amendment to expand background checks on gun purchases failed to pass through the body, falling by a mostly partisan vote of 54-46.
Sixty votes were needed to pass the legislation through the Senate. Four Democrats voted no on the measure. All but four Republicans voted no.
With prospects already looking bleak, gun-control supporters lost two potential key votes earlier Wednesday, as Sens. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) said they would oppose the measure, which was introduced by Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).
In addition to Heitkamp, the other three Democrats voting against the measure were Sens. Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Max Baucus (D-Mont.), and Mark Pryor (D-Ark.).
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