Federal Gun Control Bills Being Debated

Gun Control Bills

Judiciary Committee March 12, 2013

1.) Assault Weapons Ban of 2013: Lead sponsor: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.). Senate aides privately call this bill “a liberal’s dream come true,” and the proposal’s ban of almost 60 specific military-style weapons and related parts is considered a bridge too far for moderate Democrats — many of whom face reelection next year — and all Senate Republicans.

2.) Stop Illegal Trafficking in Firearms Act of 2013: Lead sponsors: Sens. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine). This bipartisan group announced Monday that they had a deal in place to make gun trafficking — or the practice of illegally purchasing firearms for someone else — a federal crime for the first time.

This one passed the Committee Thursday March 7.

3.) Protecting Responsible Gun Sellers Act of 2013: Sponsor: Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.). Breaking from weeks of bipartisan negotiations on the issue of expanding background checks, the New York Democrat broke away from the talks late Wednesday and reintroduced a bill mandating background checks on all gun sales, private or commercial. Such a broad mandate is opposed by the senators who were negotiating a bipartisan compromise with Schumer — Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Joe Manchin III (D-W. Va.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) — but the group still expects to find more GOP support for their bipartisan alternative.

4.) School Safety Enhancements Act of 2013: Sponsor: Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). Versions of this bill have been introduced by the California Democrat before and her plan comes closest to addressing the National Rifle Association call to place armed guards at every U.S. school.

Everything you need to know about the Senate’s gun bills

Posted by Ed O'Keefe The Washington Post March 7, 2013

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/03/07/which-gun-bills-are-senators-debating/

Judiciary Committee Contact Information

(alphabetical order except for Chair)

Patrick J. Leahy, Chair

D-VT

437 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510

(202) 224-4242FAX 202-224-3479

Contact: www.leahy.senate.gov/contact/

Richard Blumenthal

D-CT