Having failed repeatedly to expand gun control in Congress, including background checks, Senate Democrats are hoping to appeal directly to gun retailers.

Senate Democrats are looking to gun retailers, including Cabelas and Bass Pro Shops, in hopes of convincing them of tightening their policies. They are asking the stores not to sell to people who have not passed background checks, The Hill reported.

It's like Democrats have discovered that there's a free market that can make better decisions than the force of the federal government.

“That’s a voluntary decision by the gun dealers. It’s a voluntary decision to enable a killer; it’s a voluntary choice to empower a murder,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) to reporters.

Blumenthal spoke at a gun safety press conference hosted by Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America on Tuesday.

The press conference centered around people being able to purchase guns at retail stores without complete background checks being done.

According to Everytown, more than 15,000 dangerous people have obtained guns over the last five years because the FBI did not complete background checks in the during the three-day period allocated. In those cases, retailers can go forward with gun sales.

After coming to terms with the fact that congressional legislation is far out of reach, gun control advocates and their allies in the Senate are pushing for stores to voluntarily refrain from selling firearms to the fraction of people who have not completed an FBI background check.

Stores including Wal-Mart, Sports Authority, Dick's Sporting Goods, Dunham Sports, Academy Sports & Outdoors and Big 5 Sporting Goods have already complied and will only sell guns to people after the FBI has completed their background check and approved the sale, according to Everytown.

But after years of waging political warfare against gun owners and retailers, it might be too late to get smaller and independent gun dealers on their side.