WASHINGTON — Senate leaders yesterday were trying to save what’s left of gun-control legislation with a new compromise that would exempt some rural gun sales from background checks.
The new offer by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) would exempt sellers far from federally-licensed dealers from having to conduct background checks on buyers.
Leaders pushing for the bill have yet to line up the 60 votes needed in the Senate to pass background checks, as most Republicans and a handful of Democrats from rural states have balked at the measure.
Gun-control advocates in the Senate said the latest compromise is something they can live with in order to expand background checks to gun shows and Internet sales — considered a major loophole in current regulation.
The move didn’t appease Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who still intends to vote against the background-checks amendment.
“I think the Second Amendment doesn’t just apply to rural America,” Graham said.
Three of the Senate’s 55 Democrats have already said they intend to vote against the amendment, with two others still on the fence.
Vice President Joe Biden, who has been calling senators lobbying for the background-check amendment, told The Post yesterday he wasn’t concerned about the lack of votes. “It’s not over yet,” Biden said.