WASHINGTON (AP) — The first hurdle cleared with deceptive ease, the Senate turns to the heart of the battle over curbing gun violence next week when it considers a proposal to expand required federal background checks to gun shows and online firearms sales.

In a bipartisan 68-31 vote Thursday, senators rejected an effort by conservatives to block debate on Democrats’ gun control legislation, a measure backed by President Barack Obama. Senators then formally opened debate on the bill, lawmakers’ response to the mass shooting in December at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., and the most ambitious effort to limit gun violence in nearly two decades.

Thursday’s one-sided vote belied what looks to be a difficult path in Congress for gun restrictions. Most Republican senators and many moderate Democrats oppose or are wary of curbs they think go too far, and the view from the GOPrun

House is even cooler, where leaders say they want to first see what the Senate does.

“Nothing is going to happen quickly,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in a brief interview. “We’re going to be on this for a while, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Asked how long debate will last, he said, “Weeks.”

The bill would subject almost all gun buyers to background checks, stiffen federal laws barring illicit firearms sales and provide slightly more money for school safety measures. Background checks are aimed at preventing criminals and mentally ill people from getting weapons, and gun control advocates consider broadening the system to be the most effective step available to lawmakers.

Opponents including the National Rifle Association say the measures would infringe on the constitutional right to bear arms and inconvenience law-abiding citizens while being easy for others to evade.

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