The US Senate blocked bipartisan legislation yesterday aimed at tightening restrictions on the sale of firearms.

Gun control supporters in the US Senate have won the first showdown over how to respond to the December school shootings in Connecticut, defeating an effort by conservatives to derail firearms restrictions before debate could even start.

The US senate cleared the way yesterday for a weeks-long debate on proposals to curb gun violence, rejecting an effort by Republicans to block consideration of gun-control legislation prompted by December’s Newtown school massacre.

The US Senate is ready to launch an emotion-charged debate on new gun restrictions, four months after the carnage at a Connecticut elementary school spurred President Barack Obama and Congress to address firearms violence.

Conservative senators from both political parties are backing wider background checks for gun buyers, but it remains unclear if President Barack Obama can push significant weapon controls through the US Congress.

President Barack Obama has urged US lawmakers to remember the children gunned down in America and not get “squishy” in the face of powerful forces up against gun control legislation, as supporters struggle to win over moderate Democrats before a Senate vote expected next month.

The powerful US gun lobby felt the first backlash from the Newtown massacre today when a leading private equity group decided to sell its stake in the company that made the killer’s assault rifle.

Prominent gun rights advocates in the US government are now calling for a national discussion about curbing gun violence - signalling that the Connecticut primary school massacre could be a tipping point in a debate dormant for years.

ROBERT BYRD, the longest-serving member of Congress in US history, died at the age of 92 after almost six decades in office, his office announced yesterday.

A fire broke out in an underground coal mine in southern West Virginia late yesterday and two workers were unaccounted for, authorities said.

A LARGE photograph of Jerry Lee Groves in a mine sat next to his closed casket, along with dozens of flowers carrying notes of sympathy.

Families and friends of 12 men killed in a coal mine explosion in the United States prepared to say goodbye to their loved ones today as mine employees met company officials for the first time since the blast.

Twelve miners caught in an explosion in a West Virginia coal mine were miraculously found alive more than 41 hours after a blast that ultimately claimed the life of another miner, the governor said.

Twelve miners caught in an explosion in a US coalmine were found alive today - more than 41 hours after the blast.

A MINING company executive said officials are “very discouraged” by air quality tests in the mine where 13 workers are trapped, and planned to drill a third hole to take additional air samples.

Rescuers trying to reach 13 trapped US miners punched a hole into the mine early today, but a company executive said he was “very discouraged” by air quality tests.

Thirteen coal miners in West Virginia remained trapped 260 feet below ground today, after an explosion that may have been triggered by lightning.