Senator Richard Shelby defended his vote against a Senate bill that would have allowed the Justice Department to block sales of firearms to "known and suspected terrorists."
In a heated exchange with CNBC's Scott Wapner, Shelby — the chairman of the Senate's Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs — called Wapner "rude" and said he voted against the Democrat-sponsored amendment because "We've got a second amendment right. I think some people forget that. I hope you won't."
Shelby, a Republican and the senior Senator from Alabama, instead voted with most of his party for a competing amendment that would have compelled the government to delay for 72-hours the purchase of a gun by a terrorism suspect, and would stop the sale only if ties to terrorism were found.
That measure, sponsored by Texas U.S. Senator John Cornyn, received 53 votes, short of the 60 needed to pass. In total, all four gun control measures brought up for vote by the Senate Monday night failed to pass, with votes largely falling along party lines.
"I do believe that we should keep guns out of the hands of terrorists, would-be terrorists, and a lot of other people," Shelby said.
In the same interview during CNBC's "Fast Money Halftime Report", Shelby also called the Fed's credibility into question.
"The economy is really not as bright as the Fed chairman would tell us," Shelby said. "I'm not sure their data that they're operating from is that reliable."
Earlier in the day Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen spoke to the Senate's Banking Committee.