Thread: Senate reaches deal on weak watered-down gun-control bill without ban on assault weap

Senate reaches deal on weak watered-down gun-control bill without ban on assault weapons, high-capacity magazines

President Obama says the Senate compromise was 'not my bill' and urges Congress to finish the job. Compromise bill with expanded background checks came one day after Newtown families met lawmakers on Capital Hill.

By Dan Friedman , Joe Straw In Washington AND Glenn Blain / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Wednesday, April 10, 2013, 11:59 PM
Updated: Thursday, April 11, 2013, 6:12 AM



Sen. Joe Manchin (left) meets Nelba Marquez-Greene and Mark Barden, both of whom lost a child at Sandy Hook. Manchin changed his position in favor of new background checks.

Four months after the devastation of Newtown, Conn., a Senate gun control compromise announced Wednesday would expand background checks for would-be weapons buyers — but achieve little else, critics said Wednesday.

The ban on assault weapons appears lost. Limits on high-capacity magazines remain unaddressed. And guns sales between individuals can continue without government review.

The deal is “better than nothing — but only better than nothing,” Gov. Cuomo said Wednesday during a radio appearance.

“It is unbelievable that this Congress is going to fundamentally fail to act on a societal scourge,” Cuomo said. “This is a Congress that is captive of the extremists and there is no clearer proof of that than this . . . It is a damning commentary on this Congress.”

The bipartisan steps to expand the pool for background checks were criticized for falling short of the great leap expected in the anguished days after 20 first-graders and six staffers were murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

The proposed deal, brokered by conservative Sens. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), was seen by some as a capitulation to the gun lobby.


Democratic Senator from West Virginia Joe Manchin (left) and Republican Senator from Pennsylvania Pat Toomey introduce gun control legislation that has bipartisan support, during a news conference on Wednesday.
MICHAEL REYNOLDS/EPA
Democratic Senator from West Virginia Joe Manchin (left) and Republican Senator from Pennsylvania Pat Toomey introduce gun control legislation that has bipartisan support, during a news conference on Wednesday.

It will, for the first time, require background checks for the thousands of gun sales made every year at gun shows and will also expand background checks to guns sold online.

RELATED: BACKGROUND CHECKS COULD HAVE PREVENTED MASS SHOOTINGS

But the pending federal legislation would exempt “person-to-person” sales of guns — meaning weapons could be peddled via office bulletin boards or between family members without any criminal or mental health background check.

It would extend the existing immunity from lawsuits for gun dealers if the buyer is cleared through the expanded background checks system — and the weapon is later used in a crime.

And it would allow owners licensed to carry weapons in any state to bring their guns along to all 50 states including those like New York with concealed weapons bans — as long as they’re in town for just one night.

But even gun control advocates like President Obama who had pushed for much more sweeping reform welcomed the compromise as at least a first step.
The NY Daily News April 11, 2013 front page voices the frustration of all who hoped for stern gun reforms.

New York Daily News
The NY Daily News April 11, 2013 front page voices the frustration of all who hoped for stern gun reforms.

Obama praised Manchin and Toomey for reaching the compromise but noted that “a lot of work remains.”

“This is not my bill,” the President noted, “and there are aspects of the agreement that I might prefer to be stronger . . . Congress needs to finish the job.”

Cuomo blamed congressional opposition for forcing Obama to “recalibrate” his gun-control measures, and said the movement to restrict weapons had lost momentum.

RELATED: THIS GUN FIGHT IS A SIDESHOW

“We are not talking about a significant package of gun control anymore,” the governor said. “We lost that in the discussion along the way, and it is a shame.”

A conservative-led effort to scuttle the measure was expected, but both Toomey and Manchin expressed optimism about moving the deal forward.

Adam Lanza killed 26 people when he shot up Sandy Hook Elementary School with assault-type rifles using high-capacity magazines.
CBS News

“Truly, the events at Newtown changed us all,” said Manchin. “Americans on both sides of the debate can and must find common ground.”

Manchin also had an emotional meeting in his Senate office Wednesday with eight Newtown family members.

“I’m a parent. . . . I’m a grandparent,” he told them in tears.

“I can’t imagine this . . . to do something.”

Nicole Hockley, whose 6-year-old son, Dylan, was among the dead at Sandy Hook, passed him a box of tissues.


Gov. Andrew Cuomo (left) says the gun-control bill is 'better than nothing' but it is still weak.
Bebeto Matthews/AP
Gov. Andrew Cuomo (left) says the gun-control bill is 'better than nothing' but it is still weak.

The federal assault weapon provision was previously excluded from the main gun control bill headed for the floor, and is expected to lose when offered as an amendment.

Obama and gun control advocates had focused all along on the need for increased background checks, even as the assault weapon ban seemed destined to fail.

“I’ve always said that background checks are the sweet spot, and the sweet spot for gun safety got sweeter with this agreement,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

The compromise will need 60 votes to move forward in the Senate, with a second vote needed to sent it along to the House.

If passed, it would also establish a national commission to study the cause of mass shootings like the ones in Newtown, Aurora, Colo., and Tucson, Ariz.

Obama vowed to make the gun control issue a top priority in his second term after the Dec. 14 massacre at Sandy Hook.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ken.) led his Senate minority to block many of the initatives spelled out by President Obama.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Schumer, who helped bring the two sides together, said the bill “got 80% of what Mayors Against Illegal Guns wanted.”

RELATED: SENATORS UNVEIL DEAL ON GUN SALES BACKGROUND CHECKS

The gun control group, led by Mayor Bloomberg, said it would stop airing ads targeting Toomey in Pennsylvania.

“This bill will not only keep guns out of the wrong hands, it will help save lives and keep our communities safe,” Bloomberg said in a statement.

The National Rifle Association insisted the legislation would change nothing.

“Expanding background checks at gun shows will not prevent the next shooting, will not solve violent crime and will not keep our kids safe in schools,” the statement said.

“The sad truth is that no background check would have prevented the tragedies in Newtown, Aurora or Tucson.”

Toomey said he felt the proposal steered clear of the usual hot-button issues for the pro-gun lobby.

“I’ve got to tell you candidly, I don’t consider criminal background checks to be gun control,” he said. “I think it’s just common sense.”

Schumer delivered word of the deal to Vice President Biden, Bloomberg and Mark Kelly — husband of ex-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who survived a shot to the head in the 2011 Tucson killings.

Kim Russell, a Brooklyn woman who survived a 1999 shooting during an Atlanta street robbery, said she was hoping for more from Congress — but happy with less.

“I’m hopeful that the compromise background checks will at least see the light of day,” said Russell, a member of Moms Demand Action for Guns Sense in America.

“It’s not ideal, but it’s certainly better than where we were.”

dfriedman@nydailynews.com

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