By JENNIFER STEINHAUER
Published: March 14, 2013
WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee
on Thursday approved a measure to reinstate a ban on assault weapons in
the first major Congressional test of the issue since the law expired
in 2004. But the ban remains unlikely to clear the full Senate.
Still, the committee’s passage of the bill, along with three other
measures that previously cleared the panel, demonstrated momentum by
lawmakers who have sought new gun regulations after the school shooting
in Newtown, Conn.
Taken together, the votes show a willingness by lawmakers to confront
the pro-gun lobby, which has stifled new gun limits for years. As
recently as last year, it would have been unthinkable for these bills to
have even been considered in a Senate committee.
But those measures — which include a ban on high-capacity magazines and
enhanced background checks for gun buyers — will now be considered by
the full Senate, where gun rights sentiments run far deeper than in the
committee, to say nothing of the House, where members are even less avid
to take up new gun curbs.
The renewal of the assault weapons ban, an earlier version of which was
rejected by the full Congress in 2004, even with the tacit support of
President George W. Bush, is almost certain to fail in the Senate,
should Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, even allow it
on the floor.
“The road is uphill. I fully understand that,” Senator Dianne Feinstein,
Democrat of California, the author of the bill, said after its passage
by the committee. “My passion comes from what I’ve seen on the streets,”
she said, adding, “I cannot get out of my mind trying to find the pulse
in someone and putting my fingers in a bullet hole.”
Mr. Reid said on Thursday that he had talked with Senator Patrick J.
Leahy, the Vermont Democrat who leads the committee, and had promised a
vote on some type of bill that considers the committee’s actions,
probably by mid-April.
While the plan has not been formulated, it will probably include a
limited gun safety bill focused on stemming gun trafficking and
enhancing background checks to compel states to better comply with laws
on reporting records regarding criminals and mentally ill people. But
even those measures will not have broad support, and 60 votes will be
needed to cut off debate and move to a vote. Lawmakers will probably
work with a measure passed by the committee last week that would make
the already illegal practice of buying a gun for someone who is legally
barred from having one — known as a straw purchase — a felony and
increase penalties for the crime.
to read more, click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment