WASHINGTON: A Democratic and a Republican senator said yesterday that they had struck a deal to expand background checks for gun buyers, boosting prospects for passage in the US Senate of at least some of President Barack Obama’s gun-control proposals.
The deal by Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania set the stage for a likely Senate debate on the gun-control package starting today, when the Senate is expected to defeat an attempt by conservative Republicans to block the bill from reaching the floor.
The proposal for expanded background checks appears to be Obama’s best hope for meaningful gun-control legislation in the aftermath of the December massacre of 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.
The senators said their measure would expand criminal background checks for prospective gun buyers to include sales made at gun shows and online, although sales among friends or family members would still be exempt from the requirement.
The agreement, which the senators said would help keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals and the mentally ill, would close one major loophole in a system that analysts say allows as many as 40 percent of gun buyers to avoid background checks.
More controversial parts of the president’s plan — such as a ban on rapid-firing “assault” weapons like the one used in Connecticut and limits on the capacity of ammunition magazines — appear to have a slim chance of clearing the US Senate. Even if the Senate passes a package of gun-control measures, it would still face a tough road to approval in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
“Today is just the start of a healthy debate that must end with the Senate and House hopefully passing these common sense measures and the president signing them into law,” Manchin said.
He said Democratic leaders have promised the background checks agreement will be the first amendment offered to the gun-control bill on the Senate floor.
Obama’s proposals to curb gun violence have been opposed by the National Rifle Association, which did not respond to the agreement. The plan has been the focus of intense lobbying by gun-rights supporters such as the NRA and by gun-control advocates such as Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a group backed by Michael Bloomberg, the media magnate and New York City mayor.
Reuters
