BREAKING, AWESOME: Background Checks Bill Goes Down In Flames As Kelly Ayotte Says She Will Vote ‘No’, Leaving Total Tally At 59-41

Excerpted from TPM: Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) said Wednesday that she will oppose a Senate deal proposing to expand background checks on the purchases of firearms known as the Manchin-Toomey admendment.

“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,” she 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’s opposition leaves the amendment short of the required 60 votes for passage, unless a senator reverses their position prior to the vote on the floor at 4pm ET today