Senate panel approves gun trafficking bill

Paul Singer and Jackie Kucinich, USA TODAY11:44a.m. EST March 7, 2013


Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., right, talks with the committee's ranking Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.(Photo: Susan Walsh, AP)
Story Highlights

  • Bill is first legislative action on guns since Newtown, Conn., massacre
  • Anti-trafficking measure is considered the most likely to win approval by Congress
  • Republicans remain concerned about unintended consequences of the bill



WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved a bill to crack down on people who buy guns and transfer them to others who would be barred by law from buying the weapons themselves -- so called "straw purchases."
It is the first legislative action in either chamber following the December mass killing in a Connecticut elementary shooting.
The Judiciary Committee approved the straw-purchase legislation with the support of only one Republican, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa. Grassley, the top Republican on the panel, said he was voting for the bill with the understanding that Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., would continue to work with him to refine the language before the bill gets to the Senate floor.
While the committee is considering several gun regulation bills, the straw purchase bill, intended to cut down on trafficking in illegal weapons, is the one that appears to have the best chance of becoming law.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., one of the most vocal opponents of increasing regulations on firearms, has vehemently opposed the assault weapons ban and universal background checks but said Wednesday he could be amenable to the trafficking bill, depending on the final language. "If Grassley and Leahy can agree, there's a pretty good chance that this thing is going to happen," he said.
Other Republican senators speaking during the committee vote Thursday raised concerns about unintended consequences of the bill – for instance, whether it would make it a crime to award a firearm as a prize at a charity event to a veteran who might be banned from gun ownership by a war-related condition such as post-traumatic stress disorder – but indicated as well a willingness to discuss further refinements of the language.
A similar bill has been proposed in the House, but it has not yet been brought to a vote.
Other measures, including a ban on assault weapons, are expected to be too controversial for the Congress to approve.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/03/07/gun-trafficking-grassley-leahy-senate/1970475/