Battle Lines Drawn Over Stricter Gun Laws

Battle Lines Drawn Over Stricter Gun Laws
WASHINGTON—Congressional battle lines hardened Sunday over firearms restrictions, laying the foundation for what will likely be a fight over any proposed new gun laws.

Speaking Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) said he owned an AR-15, an assault-style rifle, at his home and suggested that the solution isn't to take his firearm away but to provide better school security and focus more on mental health as a way to cut gun violence. "I don't suggest you take my right to buy an AR-15 away from me, because I don't think that it will work," he said.

Since the American Revolution, when colonists went to war against Great Britain, the right to bear arms has been central to – and controversial in – American culture.

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Take a look back over milestones in America's relationship with and regulation of firearms.

Gun-control proposals, nonstarters in recent years, have drawn renewed interest in the aftermath of the Dec. 14 shootings in Newtown, Conn., where suspected gunman Adam Lanza killed 20 students and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Law-enforcement officials said he also killed his mother and himself. Authorities said a version of the AR-15 was one of the weapons used in the school assault.

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The incident has sparked calls for a ban on assault weapons and ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 shots.

The National Rifle Association entered the fray on Friday, calling for armed security at all of the nation's schools. Speaking Sunday on "Meet the Press," the organization's executive vice president, Wayne LaPierre, adamantly opposed new restrictions and faulted federal authorities for failing to adequately enforce existing ones. "One more law on top of 20,000 laws" already on the books would do no good, he said.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.), appearing later on the same show, said the country can't reduce gun violence without considering access to firearms and ammunition. That would be "like trying to prevent lung cancer without talking about cigarettes," he said.

Gun-control advocates, speaking in interviews, said President Barack Obama has authority to tighten access to certain guns and bolster the background-check system, even with no action from Congress.

The White House took the first steps last week toward drawing up its list of proposed changes to gun laws. The White House has acknowledged it has options beyond congressional action but has declined to specify what those might be.

Mr. Obama has administrative powers under a 1968 law to ban the import of certain assault weapons. In 1989, former President George H.W. Bush used that law in issuing an executive order to ban the importation of assault weapons not used for sport. His action was superseded by congressional passage of a 10-year ban on assault weapons in 1994.

The importation of assault weapons could be "cut off tomorrow," said Kristen Rand, legislative director for the Violence Policy Center, which backs tighter gun controls. "We argue that is the single most important thing they could do under their administrative authority." Opponents of an importation ban say assault weapons are no more likely to be used in crimes than are other guns.

Other steps Mr. Obama can take include bolstering the background-check system used in gun purchases by ordering that local law enforcement be notified when someone fails a background check.

That action has found broad support before. A federal program created in the 1990s in Richmond, Va., became a model that was emulated by federal prosecutors elsewhere. Called Project Exile, the program toughened prosecutions of gun offenses and was widely credited with lowering Richmond's violent crime rate.

Some state officials said they too would press for tougher regulations. Last week, Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley said his administration would focus on restricting access to certain firearms. But with porous lines between the states, Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat, said federal action would be more effective.

In his remarks Sunday, Mr. LaPierre reiterated the NRA's support for the Project Exile initiative, "where every time you catch a criminal with a gun … you prosecute them 100% of the time," he said.

The NRA also supports efforts to speed records into the background-check system. After the April 2007 Virginia Tech shootings, it emerged that the mental-health records of the assailant, Seung-Hui Cho, hadn't been entered into the federal background-check system. The omission allowed Mr. Cho to pass background checks.

With NRA support, Congress passed a law to strengthen the system by giving states financial incentives to send in records. In the 14 years the background-check system has operated, some 9,877 attempted gun purchases from federally licensed dealers have been stopped for mental-health reasons. More than one-third have come in the past two years, as states have increased their participation.

Ladd Everitt, spokesman for the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, said the administration could support the confirmation of a director for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and shift resources to the agency. The ATF, which has been embroiled in the fallout of an ill-fated federal gun-trafficking probe, has been without a confirmed director for six years and its budget has been relatively stagnant. At $1.15 billion, the 2012 budget was $39 million higher than the 2011 budget. The proposed budget request from the Justice Department for 2013 amounts to a $1.3 million increase.