A
Senate
vote to renew an expiring ban on plastic firearms capable of evading
metal detectors and X-ray machines is shaping up as a bittersweet moment
for
gun control supporters, days before the anniversary of the deadly mass shooting at
Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut.
Monday's
vote to extend the prohibition on plastic guns for another decade
responds to a growing threat from steadily improving 3-D printers that
can produce such weapons. But gun control advocates seem sure to lose an
effort to impose additional, tougher restrictions on plastic firearms —
a harsh reminder of their failure to enact any new federal gun curbs in
the year since 20 first-graders and six educators were murdered in
Newtown, Conn.
The slayings last Dec. 14 prompted the newly
re-elected President Barack Obama to push gun control to the top of his
domestic agenda. But Congress approved nothing, and gun control
advocates face the same uphill struggle in 2014, complicated by internal
divisions over what their next step should be.
"The gun lobby
still has enormous power in Washington — more, frankly, than I thought
they still had," said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who represented
Newtown last year while in the House.
Illustrating the roadblocks
that have thwarted gun control forces, an effort by Sen. Chuck Schumer,
D-N.Y., to make plastic guns more detectable by requiring them to have a
permanent metal part seems certain to fail Monday. His plan is opposed
by repugicans and the National Rifle Association.
The Senate is then expected to easily approve a 10-year extension of the ban, which would otherwise expire Tuesday.
Schumer
and other Democrats, as well as gun-control advocates and law
enforcement officials, say there's a problem with current law on plastic
guns: It lets gun makers meet its requirements by including a metal
part that can be easily detached — thus letting the weapon evade
screening devices.
In a statement last week, the NRA expressed no
opposition to renewing the law. But the gun lobby said it would fight
any expanded requirements, including Schumer's "or any other proposal
that would infringe on our Second Amendment rights" to bear arms.
The
prohibition was first enacted in 1988 under President Ronald Reagan and
easily renewed twice. The House approved a 10-year extension of the ban
last Tuesday.
Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, top repugican on
the Senate Judiciary Committee, says that with the law's expiration at
hand, Congress should quickly enact a long extension and study Schumer's
plan later. Other repugicans agree.
Supporters of tightening the
rules say the 10-year renewal plays into the NRA's hands because it
reduces Democrats' ability to revisit the issue.
If, as expected, Democrats fail Monday to tighten the restrictions, it will be the latest in a series of setbacks this year.
Their
biggest defeat came in April, when the Senate blocked an effort to
expand required background checks for firearms buyers. The proposal was
Obama's top gun-control priority following the elementary school
killings.
Background checks, aimed at preventing criminals and the
mentally ill from getting weapons, are currently required only for
purchases from licensed gun dealers. The rejected bill, by Sens. Joe
Manchin, D-W.Va., and Patrick Toomey, r-Pa., would have extended the
requirement to all guns bought on the Internet and at gun shows.
Also
rejected in April were proposals to ban assault weapons and
large-capacity ammunition magazines, which have been used in mass
shootings.
House repugican leaders never favored any of those proposals, and none came to a vote there.
But
with Saturday's Newtown anniversary drawing attention to the issue,
Rep. Tim Murphy, r-Pa., a psychologist, plans to announce legislation
Thursday aimed at bolstering federal mental health programs, including
treatment, research and training for workers who respond to emergencies.
In
the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has gained none of the
five new votes he would need to prevail on background checks.
Eager
to avoid exposing potentially vulnerable Democrats seeking re-election
next year to politically fraught votes, Reid has said he won't revisit
the issue until he can win.
That has left gun control groups split over strategy.
Some
want to pursue more modest improvements like strengthening mental
health programs and broadening the scope of reports that states provide
to the federal background check system.
Groups backing this
approach include some Newtown families and Americans for Responsible
Solutions, formed by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., seriously
wounded by a mass shooter, and her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly.
"We
see only good coming from passing mental health legislation around
which there is broad bipartisan agreement," said a statement from Sandy
Hook Promise, a group representing some Newtown families. "If we don't
begin to bury at least some of our differences, we will continue to
needlessly bury our children."
Others want to continue raising
pressure on lawmakers to back strong background check requirements, and
oppose settling for less.
These groups include Mayors Against
Illegal Guns, led by outgoing New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg,
which has been spending money against gun-rights congressional
candidates and lawmakers. They fear repugicans would use votes for
weaker efforts to cast themselves as having championed major steps
against guns.
"Our interest in giving (New Hampshire rpeguican)
Kelly Ayotte a vote on a mental health bill, which would be a good bill
but do virtually nothing to solve the gun violence problem in this
country, approaches zero," said Mark Glaze, the mayors' group executive
director.
***
Editor's Note: Congress did pass the extension late into the night.
Today is - Poinsettia Day
