Senate Democrats urged President Bush yesterday to force a House vote extending the assault-weapons ban before Congress takes its summer recess, even though the bill is unlikely to pass.
Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein of California and Charles E. Schumer of New York, equipped with a letter of support from three former presidents, urged Mr. Bush to press the House Republican leadership to allow a vote renewing the 1994 law.
Less than two months remain before the ban on certain military-style semi-automatic weapons expires Sept. 13. Congress will take its recess from July 26 through Sept. 6.
“Each of us, along with President Reagan, worked hard in support of this vital law, and it would be a grave mistake if it were allowed to sunset,” said former Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton in a letter to Mr. Bush.
As for reasons to extend the ban, the three former presidents cited the threat of terrorists having easier access to weapons and police officers’ support for continuing the ban.
“The one hope we have is that the president will listen to his predecessors who say the nation is better off with the ban,” Mrs. Feinstein said.
James Brady, Mr. Reagan’s press secretary, who was wounded in a 1981 attempt to assassinate the president, later became the foremost lobbyist for stricter gun laws. In 1993, Mr. Clinton signed into law the “Brady bill,” which requires background checks for all handgun purchases. In 1994, Mr. Clinton signed the ban on assault weapons.
Passage of the ban was cited by some analysts as a key factor in Republicans winning a majority in the House in 1994. Nearly every Southern Democrat who voted for the ban was ousted in midterm elections that year.
The National Rifle Association says the ban has done little to protect Americans and has infringed upon the rights of law-abiding gun owners.
The ban does not outlaw the sale of assault weapons; possession of machine guns has been regulated since 1934 by the National Firearms Act. Rather, the 1994 law banned certain semi-automatic replicas that lawmakers said at the time could be easily altered to become fully automatic.
In March, the Senate passed a 10-year extension of the ban, by a 52-47 vote. But the proposal passed as an amendment to a Republican-sponsored measure that would have shielded gun makers, distributors, dealers, and importers from some lawsuits.
The resulting coalition of liberals opposed to lawsuit protection and conservatives opposed to the assault-weapons ban doomed the overall bill to fail on a 90-8 vote.
“We know what the vote is, and it will not change,” Mrs. Feinstein said.
Mr. Schumer said the bill would pass the House as well if a vote were allowed.
“We are simply asking that a vote be allowed on the House floor … and I would put money on it, that it would,” Mr. Schumer said.
Mr. Bush in the 2000 presidential campaign said he supported the ban and would sign an extension if it got to his desk.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has said there is no prospect of House passage.
“The House leaders have always been clear: The votes are not there in the House to extend the ban,” Mr. DeLay said last week.
House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer, Maryland Democrat, said he is not sure the ban would pass the House, but said there was no chance of it reaching the floor.
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