May 13, 1999
Web posted at: 7:08 p.m. EDT (2308 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, May 13) -- Feeling the political heat from their rejection of a Democratic move to close the so-called "gun-show loophole" by requiring background checks from non-licensed gun show vendors, Republicans are now searching for a compromise on the measure.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), and others are working on and off the Senate floor to make changes to a GOP-sponsored amendment the Senate approved Wednesday night.

The Senate first rejected, 51-47, Wednesday a Democratic amendment to the juvenile justice bill under consideration on the Senate floor that would have extended mandatory background checks, currently required from all licensed dealers, on weapons purchased at gun shows and flea markets.

Following the failure of the Democratic effort a Republican amendment, sponsored by Craig, was instead adopted, 53-45. It makes voluntary background checks available at the shows while also repealing the requirement -- initiated last November -- that pawnshops conduct background checks on people redeeming their own guns.

"There was a realization that there was a loophole that had to be closed," said McCain said Thursday.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-South Dakota) says he believes there is a "great deal of anxiety" on the part of Republicans over the vote.

"Republicans are scrambling to find ways in which to undo the damage done yesterday," said Daschle.

According to Craig, the new GOP compromise would mean all sales at gun shows would be subjected to instant background checks.

Craig, a member of the powerful National Rifle Association board of directors, said the organization had "grudgingly" agreed to the changes, describing the revision as a mere "clarification" of Wednesday's amendment.

But some Democrats aren't buying either the GOP spin or the new compromise.

"He (Craig) got caught weakening the gun laws. A lot of people here got sucked in and got upset," said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-California).

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-New York) rejected the new compromise measure as "the most Swiss-cheesy bill I've ever seen."

Clinton blasts Senate vote

Earlier Thursday President Bill Clinton derided the Senate for turning back the Democratic measure, saying "for the life of me, I can't figure out ... why they passed up this chance to save lives,"

"I ask the Senate to reconsider its decision. There is simply no excuse for letting criminals get arms at gun shows they can't get at gun stores," Clinton said. "The American people are watching this debate. They care very much about the result." (308K wav file)

President Clinton criticized the Senate vote Wednesday on GOP gun-control legislation

Wednesday's procedural vote against the mandatory background checks at shows was a blow to Democrats and gun control advocates who thought the shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, which took 15 lives, might loosen the grip of the gun lobby on the GOP-controlled Congress.

The loophole measure was part of a package of gun-control proposals Clinton unveiled in the wake of the Littleton shootings, and was considered the most likely to pass. Democrats were trying to attach it to the larger Republican-sponsored juvenile crime bill sponsored by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).

Reno: Senate made existing law weaker

"I am stunned that less than one month after the worst school shooting in our nation's history, the Senate has decided to make it easier for felons, fugitives, and other prohibited purchasers to buy guns," Attorney General Janet Reno said Thursday morning.

"We know that guns do not cause violent behavior," Reno said, "but ... since we have made it harder for criminals and other prohibited persons to get guns violent crime has gone down."

Reno also warned the approved GOP amendment "actually weakened one of the most effective gun laws we have ever had."

Other Democrats complain that the liability protection the measure extends to some gun sellers is rivaled only by the liability protection of diplomats and some health insurance companies and voluntary checks are meaningless.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), who helped moderate a discussion on youth violence Thursday with high school students, said he was dismayed at the failure Wednesday night to pass Senate legislation which would have required stronger identification of traders at gun shows.

"The United States Senate learned very little from Littleton, Colorado" Durbin told CNN in an interview after the teen forum, "We defeated a sensible amendment that would have at least had a background check at gun shows."

Powerful anti-gun lobbied against loophole amendment

Leading up to Thursday's action, the NRA opposed all of the gun control measures proposed by the White House, denouncing them last week as "a litany of anti-gun schemes that would affect only the law-abiding."

But New Jersey Democrat Sen. Frank Lautenberg, who sponsored the move to require gun show background checks, says the "gun-show loophole" gives "criminals, the mentally deranged and children easy access to firearms," adding that there is evidence some of the weapons used by the two teen-agers in Littleton were purchased at a gun show.

During Wednesday's debate Craig rejected the idea that the right to buy a gun at a show without a background check is a loophole. He says 98 percent of gun show vendors are licensed dealers who are required to perform the background check required in the 1993 Brady bill.

But Craig does admit that the so-called private sales between non-dealers does accounted for roughly 40 percent of all sales at gun shows. Craig is a NRA board member.

Craig's amendment is part of an underlying bill by Hatch that would toughen laws governing juvenile crime by providing more funds and making it easier to try suspects as young as 14 as adults.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Thursday, May 13, 1999

• Clinton: NATO must stop Milosevic's atrocities against Kosovo
• Transcript: Clinton justifies U.S. involvement in Kosovo
• 'Free-lance' diplomacy by House group comes under fire
• How did George W. Bush make his millions?
• Senate Republicans backtrack on 'gun-show loophole' votes
• New Documents: Results of two Willey polygraphs differ
• Reno defends computer-search caution in spy case
• Bargainers reject steel program, near completing Kosovo spending bill
• Clinton consults with congressional Democrats on Social Security
• GOP senators slam Clinton administration over Miranda rights
• Clintons to take a vacation in Florida
• House passes intelligence budget
• Washington Post columnist Meg Greenfield dies
• Impeachment foes join on tax bill
• Rubin pushes strong decision-making
• Ventura autobiography boasts of losing virginity, visiting prostitutes
• GOP backs bill to aid foster kids
• House vote sends Y2K lawsuit issue back to Senate
• In aftermath of Littleton, gun lobby does old-fashioned work
• White House letterer dies at age 91
• Clinton picks admiral to be ambassador to China

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