Senators attack NRA, gun bill being filibustered
A Senate committee hearing on a bill that would address wrongful conviction protocol in Missouri was canceled Monday night because the full Senate remained in session during a filibuster.
The powerful sponsor of a Senate bill nullifying some federal gun laws launched into an attack on the National Rifle Association on the chamber floor Monday afternoon.
Republican Senator Brian Nieves told his colleagues that the NRA had “lied” in dropping its support of his bill last week, after an amendment was added requiring 72 hours notice of a stolen gun.
But the Republican-led Senate took steps to strip the requirement from the larger bill Monday.
The NRA said it would lead to a gun owner registry.
The amendment’s sponsor, Democratic Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, says Republicans are blindly following the NRA. She added that the reporting provision would have helped curb urban crime.
Another Democrat, Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, called said the NRA had used “thuggery” against the amendment. Sens. Chappelle-Nadal and Nasheed looked poised to launch a filibuster on the chamber floor Monday evening.
The committee hearing on the wrongful conviction bill had been delayed until session adjourned, according to the committee chair’s office.
That hearing was supposed to feature testimony from former inmate Joshua Kezer and Bill Ferguson, father of recently-released Columbia man Ryan Ferguson.
Stay with ABC 17 News and abc17news.com for updates on this developing story.
