Senate rejects ban on assault weapons

The Senate on Wednesday rejected proposals to ban military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

Only 40 senators voted in favor of a measure that would have prohibited more than 150 specific semiautomatic rifles or handguns with features including pistol grips, grenade launchers or rocket launchers.

The amendment, proposed by Sen. Diane Feinstein, would have excluded more than 2,250 firearms used for hunting, as well as weapons legally owned before the bill's enactment. But it would have required background checks for the sale or transfer of grandfathered weapons and banned the sale or transfer of previously owned large-capacity magazines.

It was an expanded version of the previous federal assault weapons ban, which expired in 2004. Unlike that law, passed in 1994, this ban would not have had an expiration date.

Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Richard Blumenthal proposed a separate measure banning ammunition magazines holding more than 10 rounds. It also failed, by a vote of 46-54.

The amendments were among nine changes proposed to the overall gun-control bill. To read the rest of Lobby99's coverage on this gun legislation, click here.

Senate proposes assault weapon ban

The Senate is expected to vote next month on four bills to tackle gun violence.

The bills, approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee over the past two weeks, include calls for an assault weapons ban and universal background checks.

The assault weapon law would ban military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. It's an expanded version of the previous federal assault weapons ban, which expired in 2004. Unlike that law, passed in 1994, this ban would have no expiration date. (S-150).

For more on the other bills included in the package, click here

Senate to introduce assault weapon ban

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has announced she will introduce a bill to ban military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

The legislation would prohibit more than 150 specific semiautomatic rifles or handguns with features including pistol grips, grenade launchers or rocket launchers, as well as magazines holding more than 10 rounds.

It would exclude more than 2,250 firearms used for hunting, as well as weapons legally owned before the bill's enactment. But it would require background checks for the sale or transfer of grandfathered weapons and ban the sale or transfer of previously owned large-capacity magazines.

It is an expanded version of the previous federal assault weapons ban, which expired in 2004. Unlike that law, passed in 1994, this ban would have no expiration date.

The move comes six weeks after a mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., killed 20 children and six adults, prompting renewed debate about ways to reduce gun violence.

For more, read the New York Times story

The recent evolution of assault weapon laws

The Dec 20 shooting in a Newtown, CT elementary school that ended the lives of several young children and school officials was among the nation's most deadly incidents involving military-style weapons, but it was only one of many. A 1989 shooting at an elementary school in Stockton, CA generated a response in people similar to what is happening today.

The resulting ban on assault rifles was filled with loopholes that rendered it mostly ineffective. And Congress allowed to law to expire in 2004.

This New York Times story provides an informative insight into the evolution of the 10-year assault weapons ban.