By ALAN FRAM
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - In Congress' first gun votes
since the Newtown, Conn., nightmare, the Senate Judiciary Committee
voted Thursday to toughen federal penalties against illegal firearms
purchases, even as senators signaled that a deep partisan divide
remained over gun curbs.
The Democratic-led panel voted 11-7 to impose
penalties of up to 25 years for people who legally buy firearms but give
them to someone else for use in a crime or to people legally barred
from acquiring weapons. The panel's top Republican, Sen. Charles
Grassley of Iowa, cast the only GOP vote for the measure.
The parties' differences were underscored when
senators debated a proposal by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to ban
assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines. Democrats have
noted that such firearms have been used in many recent mass shootings.
"The time has come, America, to step up and ban
these weapons," said Feinstein, a lead sponsor of a 1994 assault weapons
ban that expired a decade later. She added, "How could I stand by and
see this carnage go on?"
The response from Republicans was that banning such
weapons was unconstitutional, would take firearms from law-abiding
citizens, and would have little impact because only a small percentage
of crimes involve assault weapons or magazines carrying many rounds of
ammunition.
"Are we really going to pass another law that will
have zero effect, then pat ourselves on the back for doing something
wonderful?" said Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican.
The two other bills would require background checks
for nearly all gun purchases and provide around $40 million a year for
schools to buy security equipment. The committee was expected to vote on
those measures and the assault weapons ban on Tuesday.
Thursday's debate made it clear that despite recent
mass slayings, new gun restrictions face a difficult path in a Congress
in which the National Rifle Association and conservative voters have a
loud voice. President Barack Obama proposed a broad package of gun curbs
in January, including a call for background checks for nearly all gun
purchases and an assault weapons ban.
Solid opposition from Republicans, and likely
resistance from moderate Democrats from GOP-leaning states, seems all
but certain to doom the assault weapons ban when gun bills reach the
full Senate, probably in April. The fate of the other bills is
uncertain.
The Senate measures were all crafted since the
December slayings of 20 children and six educators at Sandy Hook
Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. That massacre plus others in Aurora,
Colo., Tucson, Ariz., and elsewhere, have made guns a top national
topic but have not erased many lawmakers' concerns about protecting gun
rights.
Feinstein's assault weapons prohibition "represents
the biggest gun ban proposal in our history," Grassley said. He argued
that firearms bans don't work and said, "Had this bill been law at the
time, Sandy Hook still would have happened" because shooter Adam Lanza
used a legally owned gun he took from his mother.
Democrats disagreed, arguing that assault weapons firing large numbers of bullets make killers like Lanza even deadlier.
"The plain, simple, blunt fact is that some if not
all of the beautiful children who perished that day in Newtown, along
with the great educators who gave their lives trying to save those
children, might well be alive today if this ban had been in effect,"
said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
The bill boosting federal penalties for illegal gun
purchases, whose chief sponsor is the committee's chairman, Sen.
Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., was one of the least controversial measures that
senators are debating. Studies have shown that large numbers of firearms
used in crimes are purchased illegally.
White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters
that the administration favors "tough penalties on gun traffickers and
straw purchasers who funnel guns to dangerous criminals."
Both parties agree that stiffer penalties are
needed to stifle gun trafficking and straw purchases, when someone
legally buys a gun to give to a criminal or someone else not allowed to
have one. Currently, law enforcement officials prosecute the practice
with laws that forbid lying on forms for gun purchases, punishable by up
to 10 years in prison.
The bill was approved after Grassley inserted
language requiring the Justice Department to take steps aimed at
preventing a repeat of the agency's botched Fast and Furious gun
smuggling investigation. Republicans, who also expressed worries that
people might be prosecuted for unwittingly giving firearms to someone
who ends up using them in a crime, indicated GOP support could grow if
some changes are made.
Expanding background checks is the cornerstone of
Democrats' gun proposals. That effort suffered a setback this week when
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., dropped efforts to write a compromise with
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.
Coburn's blessing could have won crucial support
from Republicans and moderate Democrats because he is a solid
conservative with an A-rating from the National Rifle Association.
Schumer and two allies - moderate Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Mark
Kirk, R-Ill. - said they would continue trying to reach compromise with
other Republicans.
Background checks are now required for sales by the
nation's 55,000 federally licensed gun dealers, not for private sales
between individuals, like those at gun shows or online.
The school aid measure by Sen. Barbara Boxer,
D-Calif., and others would provide $40 million a year in federal grants
for reinforced school doors and other security measures, plus create a
new program with existing funds to improve college campus safety.
Copyright 2013 The
Associated Press modified.
