WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner issued the following statement after the Senate rejected a series of gun measures:

“It’s very disappointing that we could not reach 60 votes in the Senate for the reasonable, bipartisan legislation to strengthen background checks. The compromise put forward by Sens. Manchin and Toomey would have closed the gun show loophole and prohibited the commercial sale of guns to those who are seriously mentally ill or have a criminal record while also upholding Second Amendment rights.

I also am disappointed that, one day after the sixth anniversary of the Virginia Tech tragedy, the vote against the Manchin-Toomey compromise jeopardizes passage of the underlying gun safety bill , which includes our bipartisan CAMPUS Safety Act. I will continue to fight for passage of this commonsense approach to better coordinate research and resources to help provide a safer campus environment for students.”