On Thursday, the Senate voted to begin debate on gun-control. The vote marked the first time gun legislation will be argued in the upper chamber since the 1990's. The final vote to begin debate was 68 to 31, with 16 Republicans crossing the isle to allow arguments to proceed. There were some surprising names in the list of “yea” votes, like Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia. All three senators have an “A” or “A+” rating from the NRA.

Just the fact that a debate has been allowed is historic, after years of Republicans blocking any and all discussion on gun control, the vote is far from a guarantee that new legislation will make it to the President's desk. In fact, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, “the hard work starts now.” Senators fighting to enact commonsense gun laws still have to overcome a vote to end debate, and face a vote on the actual proposed legislation.

Families of the victims of the Newtown, Connecticut shooting have been pushing lawmakers all week to allow a vote on gun-control, and their efforts were monumental in getting many republicans to stand with democrats in Thursday's vote. There is still a long way to go before commonsense gun legislation becomes law, but it appears that the 20 children of Newtown, the others that died with them, and the more than 3,000 victims of gun violence since may all finally get the vote they deserve.

-Thom

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Thursday's Daily Stack

Hour One: Gun control legislation
- Steve Barton, Mayors Against Illegal Guns

Article: "Statements Of Mayors Against Illegal Guns Co-chairs On Manchin-Toomey Compromise To Expand Background Checks" by Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Article: "S.480, the Graham-Begich bill on mental health records" by Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Article: "Your Essential Guide To The Background Check Debate" by Igor Volsky.

Site: "Demand Action to End Gun Violence".

Article: "Senate votes yes to gun debate after moderate Republicans show support" by Dan Roberts.

Article: "NRA To Grade Lawmakers On Background Checks After All" by Sahil Kapur.

Article: "Letter from NRA Institute for Legislative Action Executive Director Chris Cox to the United States Senate On Background Checks" by Chris W. Cox.

Article: "Newtown families: Senators who filibuster gun background check bill should be ‘ashamed’" by Liz Goodwin.

Article: "2nd Amendment".

Article: "What Actually Happened To That Same-Sex Couple In The Missouri Hospital" by Zack Ford .

Article: "Arizona SB 1070" by Wikipedia.

Hour Two: GOP's War on Workers...chipping away at workers rights
- Vicki Shabo, National Partnership for Women & Families

Article: "House Republicans Introduce Bill to Provide Working Families More Flexibility".

Budget...cuts to SS & Medicare are NOT OK
- Congressman Keith Ellison

Article: "What's in Obama's budget" by Jeanne Sahadi.

Article: "The President's Budget for Fiscal Year 2014".

Article: "Mandatory Liability Insurance Or $10,000 Fine For Gun Owners?" by Alex Pappas.

Article: "First Amendment to the United States Constitution".

Talk Radio News Segment:
- Ellen Ratner, Bureau Chief

Article: "TRNS News Notes- Friday, April 12" by Victoria Jones.

Article: "Senate’s Gang of Eight to announce immigration deal" by Mike Allen.

Article: "Clapper downplays North Korea tension" by Josh Gerstein.

Article: "Syria air strikes 'target civilians' - Human Rights Watch" by BBC.

Article: "Obama ‘didn’t sanction’ Jay-Z and Beyoncé trip to Cuba" by Tim Walker.

Article: "School forces students who can't pay to skip lunch, then trashes the food" by RT.

Law: "Patriot Act", 2001.

Article: "No surprises at Keystone XL hearing: Both sides stand their ground" by Joseph Morton.

Article: "State employees say LePage pressured them to deny jobless benefits" by Chris Williams.

Article: "Tens of thousands at US immigration reform rallies" by BBC

Article: "The Real Monsanto Protection Act: How The GMO Giant Corrupts Regulators And Consolidates Its Power" by Aviva Shen.

Article: "Wayne Klinkel Learns Lessons After Dog, Sundance, Dines On $500" by AP.

In for Thom today, please welcome Dr. Mike Newcomb of 1480AM KPHX, Phoenix, AZ - The Mike Newcomb Show".

Hour One: Compassionate Conservatism? 10 years in prison for doctors who aid terminally ill patients in dying
- Bradley Williams, Montanans Against Assisted Suicide.

Brainmapping and ADHD
- Dr. William Stixrud, Clinical Neuropsychologist / Member-Adjunct Faculty, Children’s National Medical Center and Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry-George Washington School of Medicine / Author-"Plain Talk about Early Education and Development".

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