Dan from MI
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http://public.cq.com/docs/cqt/news110-000002490576.html
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Gun control advocates in Congress quickly cited the Virginia Tech shootings as evidence of the need for tighter firearm restrictions.
“I believe this will reignite the dormant effort to pass common-sense gun regulations in this nation,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Monday. The California Democrat has led efforts to renew the expired ban on so-called assault weapons (PL 103-322).
The Democratic takeover of Congress ended years of victories for the National Rifle Association (NRA), including blocking renewal of the assault weapons ban and enactment of a law in 2005 that protects gun manufacturers and sellers from liability lawsuits.
So far, Democratic leaders have shown little enthusiasm for taking up tighter gun control legislation that would likely attract scant support from Democratic lawmakers in rural and Republican-leaning districts.
Even Congress’ leading gun control advocate, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., conceded that efforts to renew the assault weapons ban and limit high-capacity ammunition clips stood little chance of passage.
But on Monday, McCarthy and her staff were more optimistic.
“We’re going to be stepping it up in light of this,” said George Burke, a spokesman for McCarthy, whose husband was killed and son was severely wounded by a gunman on the Long Island Rail Road in 1993.
McCarthy introduced legislation in February (HR 1022) that would reauthorize the assault weapons ban.
“It has been more than a decade since meaningful legislation that would prevent gun violence has been signed into law,” McCarthy said in a statement Monday. “This pattern must change. For too long Congress has stood idle while gun violence continues to take its toll. The unfortunate situation in Virginia could have been avoided if Congressional leaders stood up to the gun lobby.”
Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said gun control legislation “could be” a possibility. “Let’s find out what the facts are,” Specter said.
Dana Perino, a White House spokeswoman, deflected questions about gun control Monday by saying the administration is focused on “enforcing all of the gun laws that we have on the books and making sure that they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
“If there are changes to the president’s policy, then we will let you know,” Perino said.
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Heads up. CQ's one of the major newsletters from the capitol.