Who Were They?

On July 13,2006, the US Senate voted on the Vitter amendment, legislation to block future infringements on the right to keep and bear arms. The confiscation of legally owned guns during an emergency such as last year's hurricane Katrina took one more step towards becoming illegal.

Sixteen senators voted against this legislation, and therefore, against a fundemental right, not just an American right that our country was founded on, but the human right to self defense. There were no real surprises, or were there?

These senators were:

Daniel Akaka, Hawaii
Barbara Boxer, California
Hillary Clinton, New York
Christopher Dodd, Connecticut
Dick Durbin, Illinois
Dianne Feinstein, California
Tom Harkin, Iowa
Daniel Inouye, Hawaii
Edward Kennedy, Massachusetts
Frank Lautenberg, New Jersey
Carl Levin, Michigan
Robert Menéndez, New Jersey
Barbara Mikulski, Maryland
Jack Reed, Rhode Island
Paul Sarbanes, Maryland
Chuck Schumer, New York

Déjà vu Note: Under the unblinking eye of the C-SPAN cameras, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) voted against the Vitter amendment. Minutes later he reversed course and voted for it.