Democrats abandon proposed assault weapons ban
Published time: March 19, 2013 23:07
RT![Reuters / Joshua Lott]()
Reuters / Joshua LottWith the US Senate set to mull new gun legislation this April, a proposed ban on assault weapons will no longer be up for debate, the proposal’s sponsors say. As a result, the ban is almost surely off the table for inclusion in a new law.
California Democrat Dianne Feinstein, who promoted the ban, told the press that Nevada’s Harry Reid made the concession with a view to avoiding Republican sabotage. Leaving out the assault weapons ban, she reasoned, would prevent the debate on gun control from being blocked by Republicans before it even began.
“I very much regret it,” Feinstein, who wrote the 1994 assault weapons ban that expired ten years later, said of the decision. “I tried my best.”
Instead of debating a ban on military-style weapons up front, Feinstein will propose the measure as an amendment once legislation is in order. The ban could be on thin ice as it faces near-certain rejection from Republicans across the board as well as some Democrats.
A ban would need 60 votes to even be in the running for legislative action.
The Senate is home to 53 Democrats, as well as two independents who can be relied upon to vote to the left. But even “Using the most optimistic numbers,” Reid said, the ban would receive fewer than 40 votes.
“I’m not going to try to put something on the floor that won’t succeed. I want something that will succeed. I think the worst of all worlds would be to bring to something to the floor and it dies there,” Reid said.
Related articles
- Feinstein’s assault weapons ban loses this round (latimes.com)
- Dems shelving assault weapons ban for now (cbsnews.com)
- No assault weapons ban, not even in Dems’ bill (mercurynews.com)
- Feinstein on assault weapons ban: ‘I’m not going to lay down and play dead’ (politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com)
- No assault weapons ban: Not in Dems’ Senate bill (cnsnews.com)
- Reid drops assault weapons ban: ‘I want something that will succeed’ (tv.msnbc.com)
- Senate Leaders Drop Assault-Weapon From Gun-Safety Bill (bloomberg.com)
Harry Reid said on Tuesday he hopes have a bill to address gun violence on the Senate floor soon after the Easter break. He also confirmed that measure will not include an assault weapons ban.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., told reporters Tuesday she is disappointed that her assault weapons ban will not be part of a larger bill, but acknowledged it will likely make it easier to pass gun-related legislation through the Senate.
Feinstein said Reid told her Monday afternoon that the ban on certain types of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines would not be part of package of bills that would make up the Senate legislation.
Reid, D-Nev., said Feinstein’s measure simply did not have the support necessary to clear the floor and could not pass the 60 vote threshold needed in order to be considered by the full Senate.
“Right now, her amendment, using the most optimistic numbers…
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