Obama slams senators who opposed gun measure: 'A shameful day in Washington'

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says the Senate's opposition to a bill that would have expanded background checks for gun buyers marks a 'shameful day' in Washington...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says the Senate’s opposition to a bill that would have expanded background checks for gun buyers marks a “shameful day” in Washington. He says a minority of senators decided “it wasn’t worth it” to protect the nation’s children.

Obama spoke in the Rose Garden shortly after the Senate vote. It marked a major blow to the gun control push Obama started in the wake of December’s shooting at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school.

The president pinned the blame for the measures failure, though five Democrats also opposed the plan.

Obama was introduced by the father of a 7-year-old killed in the shooting. Other families joined him in the Rose Garden, along with former Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head in 2011.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

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