This November, the FBI ran 2.2m background checks for firearms.
The measure would have expanded background checks for firearms purchases at gun shows and on the Internet.
And a group including Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, is preparing legislation that would allow for a more stringent system of background checks for firearms buyers.
I saw the news that you won't run for reelection in Montana, a week after you voted against universal background checks for firearms.
The F.B.I. statistics show increases in the number of background checks for firearms sales and other transactions from September through November.
Coloradans voted down a measure that would have required a 24-hour waiting period for abortions, but passed an initiative requiring background checks for firearms purchases at gun shows (as did Oregonians).
Last year, requests for background checks for firearms sales submitted under the National Instant Criminal Background Check System of the F.B.I. totaled 16.4 million, up from 14.4 million in 2010 and 8.9 million in 2001, according to F.B.I. data.
"What is so scary about having a vote?" John Larson, a Democrat from Connecticut, cited polls showing broad public support for expanding background checks for firearms purchases and blocking suspected terrorists from buying guns.
The pair say there was a discussion of risk, and although there was no security inside the performance, there was a guard at the gallery entrance checking for firearms, and several others outside, whom they think were hired by Shia's management.
