White House press secretary Jay Carney today pushed the nation’s emotional buttons over the Senate’s stalled gun-control bill, which is still a few declared votes short of a critical 60-vote hurdle.

Senators should “examine the bill, examine their consciences and vote,” Carney told reporters at the midday press conference.

“It is not about the president,” he said. Opponents of the bill “disagree with the families of [Sandy Hook], they disagree with those who still grieve about the losses in Aurora,” Carney insisted. “It’s about them,” he said.

President Barack Obama has pushed hard for passage of a gun-control bill since the Dec. 14 massacre of 20 kids and 6 adults at the Sandy Hook school in Connecticut.

The critical Senate amendment is slated for a Wednesday vote, but it may be delayed.

The amendment was developed by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin and Republican Sen. Pat Toomey. It would expand the percentage of gun-sales that would require a background check of customer’s legal right to buy a gun.

If the amendment fails, the overall gun bill will is expected to fail.

The amendment is widely expected to fail, partly because several swing-voting Senators don’t want to anger gun-rights supporters in their district, especially because the bill is likely to be rejected by the GOP-controlled House.

Obama’s aides have described the gun bill as one of his top three 2013 priorities, along with the controversial immigration bill and a budget deal that includes a tax-increase.

A Senate defeat would also stymie Obama’s plans for the 2014 election.

That’s because it would allow vulnerable GOP House members to avoid voting against a measure that gets strong support among suburban women, whom Obama is likely hoping will turn out in large numbers.

“A bunch of suburban, swing district Republicans in House are probably deeply relieved that Senate appears poised to kill background checks,” said a morning tweet from Obama’s 2012 strategic advisor, David Axelrod.

“Interested to see if {Mayor Mike] Bloomberg and others who’ve worked hard on this issue remain active in 2014 elections, holding no votes accountable,” Axelrod added at 9.43 a.m. EST.

To help the amendment, Carney also evoked polls showing lopsided public support for the pending measure.

“Ninety percent of American people want this done, and yet a substantial percentage of the Senators at least seem to disagree with the vast majority of the American people,” he claimed.

Carney tried to knock down worries by gun-rights advocates that the bill would effectively create a federal database of gun-owners. “This is not a gun registry,” he said.

<a href=”https://twitter.com/#!/NeilMunroDC“><em>Follow Neil on Twitter</em></a>