GunsContours of Hill gun debate emerge
Two issues have emerged as central to the debate over post-Sandy Hook gun control legislation: the first is banning the sale of assault weapons and limiting the size of magazines, the second is requiring a universal background check to make sure those who buy guns are responsible and stable enough to handle them. Hill observers say that a bill requiring universal background check, if carefully drafted to address the concerns of those who live in rural areas, may pass, as would legislation to limit the size of magazines. Banning the sale of assault weapons may be more difficult.
Two issues have emerged as central to the debate over post-Sandy Hook gun control legislation: the first is banning the sale of assault weapons and limiting the size of magazines, the second is requiring a universal background check to make sure those who buy guns are responsible and stable enough to handle them.
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, says the latter is the top priority, and he wants to enforce better background checks.
“One of the first things you want to do is close the gun-show loophole,” said Mr. Leahy, in an interview for C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers.”
Leahy is referring to a provision that allows unlicensed gun sellers to sell guns to people without conducting background checks. Fox News reports that about 40 percent of guns in the United States are purchased from unlicensed sellers – at gun shows, for example – which means that nearly half of those who buy guns in the United State are not subjected to any background check to see whether they have been convicted of a felony, suffering from mental impairment, or have been abusive of their spouses.
On the Hill, though, pro-gun lawmakers object to requiring a universal background checks,.
The New York Times reports that Leahy, generally a supporter of gun rights, says he is looking to see how effective the earlier assault weapons ban, from 1994 to 2004, was.
“I have told my staff I’d like to get a definitive answer if we can: ‘Did an assault weapon ban work?’ ” Leahy told the New York Times.
Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada), the Senate majority leader, said that reinstating the assault weapons ban may be difficult. “Is it something that can pass the Senate?” Reid said recently on a Nevada television program. “Maybe. Is it something that can pass the House? I doubt it.”
A measure limiting magazine size is a provision that both parties support.
“I’m going to support the limitation on the size of the clips,” Senator Susan Collins, (R-Maine) told the Times. Such a bill, narrowly written, “might well pass.”
Some Democrats, such as Senator Charles Schumer (D-New York), think the best option is universal background checks for gun owners, but such legislation would have to be carefully detailed.
In many states and rural areas, guns are handed down or change hands through sales between friends and family members, and that could make backgrounds checks harder to conduct. Depending on the way it is written, a background check provision could gain support from both parties.
No matter what the legislation is, if it manages to get through the Senate, it could have a tougher time getting through the House.
“The necessity of having that legislation here instead of in the states is lost on me,” Representative Rob Woodall (R-Georgia) told theTimes. “Folks in New York may have less of that grandfather-to-grandson exchange that we have in Georgia that takes place under the Christmas tree every year.”
