Tester said the bill’s failure to muster the 60 votes needed to pass Thursday was a complete surprise given that 84 lawmakers voted on June 6 to advance the bill.
With a vote expected Thursday, Montana’s senators are divided on a bipartisan bill to address mass shootings by tightening gun laws while expanding mental health programs and school security.
The National Rifle Association leads the opposition to gun control legislation in Congress. It is also a powerful force in Montana politics having spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in
Lawmakers are pushing for a "do-over" of an Interior Department contract to review tribal jail deaths awarded to a former official. Nearly half of the deaths he was to review occurred on his watch.