US senate blocks plans to curb guns

A divided US senate blocked rival election-year plans to curb guns, only a week after Orlando’s mass shooting intensified pressure on lawmakers to act but knotted them in gridlock anyway — even over restricting firearms for terrorists.

In largely party-line votes, senators rejected one proposal from each side to keep extremists from acquiring guns and a second shoring up the government’s system of required background checks for many firearms purchases.

With the chamber’s visitors’ galleries unusually crowded — including the relatives of victims of past mass shootings — each measure fell short of the 60 votes needed to progress. Democrats called the Republican proposals unacceptably weak, while Republicans said the Democratic plans were too restrictive.