Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W. Va.) briefly explained the different types to O’Donnell:

LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: How old were you when you got that?

JOE MANCHIN: I was about 12. And then you got a .410, a .410 is a small shotgun. And I got that and then moved up to the 12 –

LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: I’m nodding like I know what a .410 is, because you know in my neighborhood there were a lot of them.

JOE MANCHIN: You’ve got the .410, 16-gauge and 12-gauge. And then a 12-gauge is your highest.

Ignorance among gun control activists about firearms has been pervasive throughout the gun control debate.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg revealed last December he did not know the distinction between an automatic and semi-automatic weapon:

Rep. Diana Degette (D., Colo.) stumbled through an explanation of firearms magazines after introducing legislation to restrict high capacity magazines in April:

President Obama said in an April California fundraiser Adam Lanza used a “fully automatic weapon” at Sandy Hook Elementary:

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Now, over the next couple of months, we’ve got a couple of issues: gun control. (Applause.) I just came from Denver, where the issue of gun violence is something that has haunted families for way too long, and it is possible for us to create common-sense gun safety measures that respect the traditions of gun ownership in this country and hunters and sportsmen, but also make sure that we don’t have another 20 children in a classroom gunned down by a semiautomatic weapon — by a fully automatic weapon in that case, sadly.

Full interview:

The new round of sanctions, proposed by a coalition led by Sens. Mark Kirk (R., Ill.) and Joe Machin (D., W.V.), would cut off Iran’s ability to work around sanctions by tapping into those foreign reserves, the New York Times reports:

The legislation, which has strong support, would be the first major new sanction confronting Iran since its inconclusive round of negotiations with the big powers last month on its disputed nuclear program. Despite Iran’s repeated denial, the West suspects it is aiming to be able to build nuclear weapons. [...]

“Closing the foreign currency loophole in our sanctions policy is critical in our efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability,” the sponsors, led by Senator Mark Steven Kirk, an Illinois Republican, and Senator Joe Manchin III, a West Virginia Democrat, said in a statement on the new legislation, which they called “the Iran Sanctions Loophole Elimination Act.”

It would impose severe penalties on any foreign financial institution that conducts foreign exchange transactions on behalf of Iran’s central bank or other Iranian entity that is already blacklisted by other sanctions. It would also be retroactive to Thursday, regardless of the passage date.

Manchin said some of the changes to the legislation may seek to allay concerns that background checks for family-to-family gun transfers are included in the current bill:

CHARLIE ROSE: What is possible in your judgment to get passed through the Senate?

JOE MANCHIN: I truly believe the background check bill is possible to get.

CHARLIE ROSE: Not the one that failed last time?

JOE MANCHIN: We have to make adjustments to it and find out where the comfort zone is but what we need to do really is be out and educate the law abiding gun owners like myself, people that might belong to the NRA or other organizations that don’t believe this is a threat to their second amendment. This bill not only protects your second amendment but expands the second amendment.

The Manchin/Toomey amendment which would have expanded background checks to gun shows and internet sales failed last April.

Manchin said he would have liked to see the interrogation process go much further given the nature of the Boston attack and possible foreign terrorist connection to the Tsarnaev brothers:

CHRIS WALLACE: Let’s talk about the interrogation, because the thing that apparently triggered the judge, the magistrate coming into the hospital on Monday and reading the Miranda rights and therefore cutting off 16 hours of investigation, or interrogation, and then Dzhokhar stopped talking, was the fact that the Justice Department had filed and so the judge had to act. charges. That was the law. Did the Justice Department make a mistake in filing criminal charges which then triggered all these events?

JOE MANCHIN: I don’t know what the rush to file the charges were. I have not been advised on that, or been informed on that. I would have liked to have seen that process, of him being interrogated, go much further before the [Justice Department] dropped the gauntlet, if you will, because that does automatically invoke some rights for the gentleman. I understand that, as an American citizen, you want those rights to protect you, but, on the other hand, this man, this is a terrorist act, it’s been identified as a terrorist act, and he’s a terrorist. And with that we should extract all the information we can before we give him rights that american citizens are entitled to.

Full interview:

Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W. Va.) criticized President Obama for not moving to approve the building of the Keystone Pipeline in an interview on Fox News Friday morning.

SEN. JOE MANCHIN: “It’s just a shame that we have so many jobs ready to take off, ready to help this economy, and we’re still puttering around with it.”

The gun control legislation, fashioned by Sens. Joe Manchin (D., W.V.) and Pat Toomey (R., Pa.), won 54 votes and was opposed by 46 Wednesday. It needed 60 votes to more forward.

It was opposed by four Democrats: Max Baucus (D., Mont.), Mark Begich (D., Alaska), Heidi Heitkamp (D., N.D.) and Mark Pryor (D., Ark.).

“You think about that al-Qaeda tape that talks about how you can get a gun in America, is the best place to go,” Brzezinski said. “Thank you very much, Republicans. Thank you very much, Senator Max Baucus. Thank you very much, Senator Mark Begich.  Thank you Heidi Heitkamp. Thank you, Mark Pryor, for siding for that videotape.”

Manchin was on “Morning Joe” to discuss the bill when Brzezinski made the remarks.

Full interview:

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D., N.D.) became the first Democrat to publicly come out against the Manchin-Toomey background check bill.

“I commend Sens. Manchin and Toomey for working so hard to bring a serious bill to the floor,” Heitkamp said in a statement. “However, in its current form I do not see a path for my support. I’ve thought long and hard about this, I’ve taken the tough meetings, and I’ve heard overwhelmingly from the people of North Dakota; and at the end of the day my duty is to listen to and represent the people of North Dakota.”

Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R., N.H.), one of several on-the-fence Republicans whose vote was needed to pass the bill, also announced Wednesday morning she was opposed to the background check amendment.

“I believe that restricting the rights of law-abiding gun owners will not prevent a deranged individual or criminal from obtaining and misusing firearms to commit violence,” Ayotte said in a statement. “While steps must be taken to improve the existing background check system, I will not support the Manchin-Toomey legislation, which I believe would place unnecessary burdens on law-abiding gun owners and allow for potential overreach by the federal government into private gun sales.”

Ayotte also announced she was supporting a replacement amendment drafted by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) and Ted Cruz (R., Texas), which the Washington Free Beacon first detailed Tuesday.

In addition to several Republicans, the bill’s passage requires the votes of Democratic senators from red states who face reelection in 2014. Sen. Kay Hagan (D., N.C.) announced she would vote yes on Manchin-Toomey on Monday. However, other Democrats in a similar situation—including Mark Pryor (D., Ark.), Mark  Begich (D., Alaska), and Mary Landrieu (D., La.)—have all thus far remained silent.

A GOP Senate aide told the Free Beacon Hagan’s decision to jump out early in support of Manchin-Toomey was “a testament to her skills” as a politician.

The background check amendment was a bipartisan deal hammered out by Sens. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.) and Joe Manchin (D., W.V.).

While political commentators and journalists have declared the Manchin-Toomey bill dead, the White House has refused to officially throw in the towel.

“The path to 60 is difficult but it is not unachievable,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said in a briefing today.

The defeat of the bill would be a blow to President Barack Obama, who made gun control a central part of his second-term agenda following the shootings in Newtown, Conn.

Democrats initially laid out a bold plan to expand background checks, ban high-capacity magazines, and reinstitute a ban on so-called “assault weapons,” such as the AR-15 semiautomatic rifles used in several mass shootings.

An assault weapons ban authored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) will be voted on as an amendment Wednesday. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.), who previously opposed assault weapons ban, announced Wednesday morning that he will support Feinstein’s bill.

The Senate will also vote on a ban on high-capacity magazines. However, few senators appear to have much appetite for the bills, especially in the face of stiff opposition from the National Rifle Association (NRA) and gun owners across the country.

Anti-gun trafficking legislation authored by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D., Vt.) is also on Wednesday’s schedule.

Republicans are moving forward with a slate of their own amendments as well. Cruz and Grassley announced an amendment to replace the Toomey-Manchin bill Wednesday morning that would strengthen the FBI’s criminal background check system and increase federal prosecutions of gun violence.

The NRA announced Wednesday morning it would support the Cruz-Grassley bill, as will the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas) has also introduced a concealed carry reciprocity amendment, which would allow individuals with conceal carry privileges in their own state to conceal carry across state lines into other states that also permit it.

Finally, Sens. Tom Harkin (D., Iowa) and Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.) coauthored a bill that would authorize mental health programs and support for teenagers.

The Democrat-controlled Senate is set to begin consideration of the Manchin/Toomey amendment Thursday, but a group of GOP senators has quietly drafted a replacement amendment, titled the “Protecting Communities and Preserving the Second Amendment Act of 2013.”

Sens. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa), Ted Cruz (R., Texas), Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), John Thune (R., S.D.), Kelly Ayotte (R., N.H.), and John Hoeven (R., N.D.) are sponsoring the bill.

Senators have been tight-lipped about the bill, but according to a fact-sheet obtained by the Free Beacon it would “reauthorize and improve the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, increase resources for prosecutions of gun crime, address mental illness in the criminal justice system, and strengthen criminal law by including straw purchasing and illegal firearm trafficking statutes.”

The bill would establish a high-level federal task force to increase prosecution of gun violence in the country. It would also create a nationwide version of Project Exile, which shifts prosecution of gun crimes from state to federal courts.

Additionally, the act would “reauthorize and improve” the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Federal courts would be required to submit relevant information to NICS, and it would “ensure relevant mental health records” are submitted by states.

The bill would also call for the study of mass shootings and limit the Justice Department’s ability to conduct gun trafficking stings like “Operation Fast and Furious.”

“Sen. Grassley, with Sen. Cruz, is considering an alternative that emphasizes support for the Second Amendment and might include fixing the NICS system, providing resources to help address mental health and school safety, protecting veterans from false health determinations and addressing gun trafficking and straw purchasing,” a spokeswoman for Grassley told the Free Beacon.

The Manchin/Toomey legislation is widely considered Senate Democrats’ best hope of passing some form of gun control legislation, but it has yet to garner the 60 votes needed to end debate. Several Democratic senators from red states are still on the fence.

Senate Republicans are also preparing a series of amendments to be offered on Thursday to the Democratic gun bill, including legislation on concealed carry, gun trafficking, and mental health funding.

Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas) is planning to introduce a concealed carry reciprocity amendment, his office told the Free Beacon.

Cornyn’s amendment would allow individuals with conceal carry privileges in their own state to conceal carry across state lines into other states that also permit it. Only Illinois and the District of Columbia completely outlaw concealed carry.

Cruz introduced two amendments Monday cracking down on straw purchases and gun trafficking. One of Cruz’s amendments would create a task force for prosecuting felons or fugitives who try to get guns illegally. The other amendment would prevent firearms straw purchasing and trafficking.

Cruz’s bills have attracted 10 cosponsors from the Senate’s conservative wing, including Sens. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), Rand Paul (R., Ky.), and Mike Lee (R., Utah).

Additionally, a senior GOP aide said anti-gun trafficking language that recently passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee would likely be replaced out of concerns that it was overbroad.

Exactly which amendments will receive a vote is not clear. The GOP aide said there has so far been no deal between Republicans and Democrats on a unanimous consent agreement limiting Thursday’s proceedings to a set list of amendments.

The bill has been shopped around to Second Amendment groups to garner support. The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) urged its members to contact their representatives in support of the bill on Tuesday.

“This positive measure would help Fix NICS and improve current law, without expanding background checks that punishing retailers and infringe on the Second Amendment,” the NSSF said.

“Your senators need to hear from you in support of the real solutions in the Grassley measure.”