Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), cosponsor of the Manchin-Toomey bill on background checks for gun purchases. Gun control proposals were placed higher than ever on the national policy agenda after the December 14th shootings in Newtown, Conn. It wasn’t enough to get the bipartisan Manchin-Toomey bill requiring background checks passed by the Senate four months later, but President Obama pledged that this would not stop his administration from pursuing reforms. As time passes and other…