Filibuster In Senate Falls Short - Gun Bill Cleared For Debate

The new proposed Senate gun control bill cleared the 60 vote threshold to avoid a filibuster 68-31 .

It will now go to debate.The bill, so far, is pretty much a mystery except for the fact it reportedly contains provisions for expanded background checks and penalties for gun trafficking - which probably won't be applied to our attorney general for trafficking guns to Mexico illegally as part of Fast and Furious.

Aside from an unconstitutional abridgement of the Second Amendment outside the normal amendment process, the bill also places a major burden on law abiding gun owners, does nothing to prevent tragedies like Sandy Hook that are being waved like a bloody flag to promote it and give the feds the intro they need for universal registration and eventually, confiscation.

More than a dozen Republican senators for days had threatened to hold up the bill Thursday. They voiced concern that the proposal -- namely, the background checks provision -- would infringe on Second Amendment rights and impose a burden on law-abiding gun owners. They also expressed frustration that, while Manchin and Toomey touted their compromise measure, the bill on the table Thursday did not yet include that. Rather, it included a stricter background checks provision.

"Because the background-check measure is the centerpiece of this legislation it is critical that we know what is in the bill before we vote on it," Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky.; Ted Cruz, R-Texas; and Mike Lee, R-Utah, said in a statement. "The American people expect more and deserve better.

Here's a list on who voted to advance the bill:

New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte
Georgia Sen. Saxby Chambliss
Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn
Maine Sen. Susan Collins
Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake
Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson
Arizona Sen. John McCain
Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker
North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr
North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven
Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham
Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander
Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker
Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey
Nevada Sen. Dean Heller

Two Democrats, Alaska Sen. Mark Begich and Arkansas Sen. Mark Pryor voted along with other Republicans to kill this bill.

The legislation  will almost certainly have to clear another 60 vote threshold to pass the Senate, and then would still have to pass the Republican-majority House.