Gun control has remained a central legislative issue in Congress since President Barack Obama began the charge for reform in January, but now it looks like support might be slipping.
The Assault Weapons Ban, which received so much attention in the last couple months, has been cut from the main gun control package. It had already received committee approval to go before the Senate, but Majority Leader Harry Reid removed it out of concern for the lack of bipartisan support. Some also worried that Democratic senators from Republican-leaning states wouldn't be able to support the primary gun control legislation if the controversial ban was included. But now, even with the ban's exclusion, support for reform is not guaranteed.
The Assault Weapons Ban, which strengthens the expired 1994 ban on high-capacity ammo magazines and military-style assault weapons, will still be voted on as an amendment to the bill, said the bill's sponsor, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, but right now it isn't included in the main reform effort.
So what's left? Instead of focusing on types of guns permitted, Reid's new bill limits its scope to school safety and how guns are exchanged and transported. The Safe Communities, Safe Schools Act, sponsored by Reid, will go before the Senate in early April. The overarching goal in the text of the bill is to "ensure that all individuals who should be prohibited from buying a firearm are listed in the national instant criminal background check system and require a background check for every firearm sale, and for other purposes."
The bill also includes provisions against illegal gun trafficking and the passing on of guns between individuals without government involvement.
Realistically speaking, the actual acquisition of guns is likely a more important point to concentrate on, as the size of the guns only affects the degree of destruction possible. It also begs the question: how effective can background checks really be in predicting violent activity in the future, and do they ignore the potential for gun owners to provide others with firearm access, either knowingly or unknowingly?
But the number one question on the minds of gun control reformers right now does not concern how effective or complete the current bill is. For it would be pointless to worry over what the bill is missing if even this incarnation of the legislation cannot muster enough support to pass.
At the time of Obama's speech on gun control on March 28, only one Republican had announced his support of the legislation, and broad support will be necessary if Republican senators follow through on their promises to block the bill with a filibuster. And then the bill will have to make it through the House of Representatives.
In anticipation of the conflict to take center stage in April, and to take advantage of the two-week Congressional recess, politicians, lobbyists and activists on both sides are speaking out and stepping up their respective agendas. As the National Rifle Association fires up its supporters in key districts throughout the country, Obama is flying to speak on the issue in Colorado. And organizations like the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and Mayors Against Illegal Guns, led by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, are mobilizing activists as well. This battle between gun rights supporters and gun control advocates has quickly spread nationwide, but no resolution will be forthcoming for either side until the conflict comes before the Senate next month.
http://campusblueprint.com/2013/04/02/is-comprehensive-gun-control-reform-losing-momentum/
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