Senate GOP Sidestep Gun Control Measure – How badly do the Senate Republicans want to avoid any more discussion about the controversial issue of gun control in this crucial election year? Consider this:  The Senate rules allow each member – regardless of their majority or minority status – the ability to “compel” a committee vote on three bills a year.  Sen. Diane Savino, an IDC member, recently used this parliamentary maneuver to circumvent the chamber’s leadership in a push to get her medical marijuana bill to the floor for a vote.  Sen. Daniel Squadron, a Brooklyn Democrat, had hoped to do the same with his bill to ban .50 caliber sniper rifles (with an exemption for any weapon used for hunting) – a measure that was left out of the 2013 SAFE Act.  But in an act of what he deemed “parliamentary jiu jitsu” by the Republicans, Squadron’s bill was blocked.