Talking in an Empty Room

A couple of Democratic Senators have started a filibuster on the floor of the Senate, aimed at preventing discussions of the appropriations bill from going forward until the legislators take some meaningful action on gun control.  Their aim appears to be closing the loopholes that exist for online purchases and gun show purchases, as well as pushing for better, universal background checks, which include not just felons but people who have been put on "watchlists" by the FBI.  Pretty dramatic sounding stuff, but not a very high bar to jump over to tell you the truth.  These are the "common sense" measures that have been bandied about for years now, but never acted upon.  What we're talking about here is nothing more than making sure that the laws we all pretty much know are needed are enforced across the board and without all the leaks that allow people like Omar Mateen to legally purchase an AR-15.  They are not talking about repealing the second amendment, or abrogating the 5th amendment and confiscating guns, they are simply trying to get a body of 100 of our elected leaders, trained lawyers and politicians, to do SOMETHING.
And they're talking to mostly empty chairs, but not like Clint Eastwood.  The absence of most of Congress during this action is an abomination.  People ought to be crossing party lines and making things go, but they're not, and they probably will not.  If you value human life, and you care about the integrity of this nation of ours, you should not vote for any Senator who refuses to address this issue.  If they think these measures are wrong, tell us why.  If they're refusing to vote, or even participate in a discussion don't we deserve to know why.
As President Obama said the other day: a decision to do nothing is a form of action.  The bodies are piling up pretty high.  I for one am pretty depressed about having to watch some of the most powerful people in the world, including POTUS have to ruefully shrug their shoulders and say there's nothing we can do, because the majority refuses to do their job, the job we elected them to do and the job that a majority of the public, an overwhelming majority of the public, wants them to do right freaking now.
I get it, some don't agree with the measures, fine, vote them down, but don't just run away and hide.  Think they need tweaking, tweak them, but show up.
I'm done now.