Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, discuss gun policy just before the start of the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting to vote on gun control legislation. (Rachel Janik/ Medill News Service)
WASHINGTON—The Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday approved a gun trafficking bill over Republican opposition.
The proposal would combat illegal movement of firearms across state lines, and also hit straw purchasers — those who buy guns from licensed dealers for the purpose of reselling to criminals.
Judiciary has four gun control measures under consideration, but senators recessed for a classified meeting before any other votes could be called Thursday. Heated debate broke out early on a gun trafficking legislation, the most bipartisan of the bundle of bills, with two GOP co-sponsors.
Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., introduced a new version of the bill to reflect GOP requests, including language from ranking member Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. His change says that the Justice Department may not entice federally licensed gun dealers to sell to known straw purchasers. Grassley cited the troubled Fast and Furious ATF operation as evidence that such limitations were necessary.
Some Republicans slammed the revised bill.
“My concern is that this bill is a solution in search of a problem,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas said.
It failed to garner substantial Republican support but was reported out of the committee 11-7. Grassley was the only Republican who voted for it.
Debate continued on a broader and more controversial measure: Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s ban on semi-automatic assault weapons.
“I was mayor of San Francisco for nine years,” Feinstein said. “And I walked into places and I saw the carnage.”
Her tenure as mayor began under the shadow of gun violence, as Feinstein succeeded slain San Francisco mayor George Moscone in 1978. She found the mayor’s body and that of city supervisor Harvey Milk after former colleague Daniel White shot them both multiple times. Her district was also the site of the 101 California Street shooting — a mass shooting that left nine dead and prompted the original assault weapons ban of 1994, which she sponsored.
Republicans applauded Feinstein’s sincerity but criticized her bill, saying the ban singled out so-called assault weapons for “cosmetic” reasons, and because “they look scary.”
Grassley succeeded in adding another amendment to the bill authorizing studies of suspected causes of violence, such as certain video games.
