The White House hit hard Wednesday against the plans of conservative Republican senators to filibuster gun-control measures expected to come up for votes in coming weeks, with President Obama warning against "obscure procedural stunts" and Press Secretary Jay Carney calling a filibuster "shameful."
"If you want to vote no, vote no. Don't block a vote," Carney said, saying lawmakers have a responsibility to the youthful victims of gun violence. Using parliamentary tactics against the legislation is "not doing service to the memory of these kids," he said.
Carney made his comments on Air Force One, en route to Denver, where Obama intensified his push for gun legislation at an event at the Denver Police Academy, surrounded by supportive police officers. In his remarks, the president stressed both that his measures are backed by law enforcement and that the time has come for Congress to act.
"From the beginning of this effort," he said, "we've wanted law enforcement front and center in shaping the discussion and the reforms that emerge from it. Because law enforcement lives with this every day. Law enforcement are the first to see the terrible consequences of ... gun violence — lives lost, families broken, communities that are changed forever. You know what works and what doesn't, and we wanted that experience and that advice."