Republican Sen. Richard Burr has Second Amendment backers stirred up in North Carolina because of his vote last week for cloture on gun-control legislation in the U.S. Senate.

UPDATE: Sen. Burr voted against the Toomey-Manchin amendment today. Following the vote, he tweeted: “The Manchin-Toomey Amendment has failed — proud to defend law-abiding Americans’ #2ndAmdt rights.”

While Burr joined 15 other Republicans who voted with Democrats on the cloture measure, he said in a statement afterward that he voted that way only to allow a full debate on the issue on April 11.

“I was pleased Sen. Reid agreed to unlimited debate and amendments; that has always been my threshold for voting to allow legislation to be considered,” Burr said in a statement. “Given that understanding, the issue can receive a full and open debate, amendments, and an amendment process with multiple opportunities to stop, alter, or kill the legislation.”

Though he voted to invoke cloture, Burr since has said he plans to vote against any measure that threatens gun rights, including Sen. Harry Reid’s “Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act of 2013” and the so-called Toomey-Manchin compromise amendment.

Gun rights supporters were not mollified, however. About 60 of them rallied outside of Burr’s Winston-Salem office Tuesday morning in protest of his vote.

Grassroots North Carolina, a gun rights advocacy group, argues that the most surefire way of killing the bill would have been to deny it a floor vote in the first place.

The group says it feels Burr flip-flopped on the issue because he had signed a pledge less than two weeks ago promising to “oppose the motion to proceed to any legislation that will serve as a vehicle for any additional gun restrictions.”

GRNC members pledge to “remove him from office” if he decides to support the compromise amendment to the bill put forward by Pennsylvania Republican Pat Toomey and West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin, which is likely to be voted on today. The group says the amendment will make the legislation more likely to pass in the end.

Burr issued a statement the morning of the protest saying he opposes the Toomey-Manchin amendment, but GRNC President Paul Valone advised gun rights advocates to keep a close eye on the senator as the bill goes through a vigorous debate and amendment process in the coming weeks.

Flip-flop?

Burr’s Deputy Director of Economic Development and Director of Field Operations Garth Regan told protestors yesterday that Burr “never said he was going to filibuster” the proposed gun control legislation.

“When we called his office, they said he was not going to vote to move it forward,” one protestor said in a video interview with the staffer.

“I’m sorry they must’ve given you some wrong information, but he never said that,” Regan said.

“It was reported in Politico that he would vote against the motion to proceed,” Valone counters in the video.

“I’m sorry Politico got it wrong,” Regan responds.

But in a letter addressed to Reid April 8, Burr joined Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and 11 other Republican senators in signing a pledge to “oppose the motion to proceed to any legislation that will serve as a vehicle for any additional gun restrictions.”

In addition to this letter, and the Politico report, The Hill website also reported that Burr had pledged to back a filibuster and then switched his position.

Carolina Journal asked Burr’s press secretary, Robert Reid, whether Burr considers Reid’s “Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act” a “vehicle for additional gun restrictions.”

“Of course, he sees Senate Bill 649 as a vehicle for additional gun restrictions,” Reid said. “But he still opposes it, he’s been opposed to it steadfast.”

“What he was saying with the cloture vote is we shouldn’t be scared to have this debate, to stand up for our second amendment rights, and this is an important debate,” Reid said. “So let’s exercise the first amendment and allow people to have that debate and express their views.”

“We still have numerous opportunities to filibuster, oppose, alter or kill the legislation, and he plans to make every effort to do so,” Reid added.

Valone said he disagrees with Burr’s decision to vote to bring the bill to the floor, even when promised an open debate and amendment process. “The most certain way to kill the bill would have been to deny it a floor vote,” he said.

Allowing debate on the bill “sounds wonderful in principle,” Valone told staffer Regan. “But we both know that political imaginations being what they are, something could be passed that the American people do not support. Let’s take for example Obamacare.”

Toomey-Manchin Amendment

Valone believes Burr’s decision to come out against the Toomey-Manchin amendment is the result of thousands of phone calls and emails demanding that he do so.

Toomey and Manchin offered the amendment as a less severe alternative to Reid’s original gun control proposal, but Valone said it takes away only “slightly fewer” rights from gun owners.

It still would “disqualify thousands of lawful citizens from owning firearms,” he said.

Gun Owners of America has described the measure as “See a shrink, lose your guns.” Some commentators say the amendment allows doctors to enter mental health records into the national background check system without violating privacy laws.

Valone believes the passage of the Toomey-Manchin amendment will make it harder to kill the bill, as it will be slightly more palatable than the original version.

Reid said Burr will vote against the Toomey-Manchin amendment and any other amended version of the bill that infringes upon constitutional gun rights.

“He also said he would filibuster the motion to proceed, and we all know how that worked out,” Valone said.

“His votes on further measures will be carefully scrutinized by GRNC and the 150,000 gun-owning voters it advises.”