The following is a breakdown of what's actually in the firearms bill up for a test vote in the Senate Thursday morning.
The package, as currently formulated, is made up of three provisions that passed the Senate Judiciary Committee last month:
1) Expanding background checks
2) Cracking down on gun trafficking and straw purchasing
3) Reauthorizing and expanding a Justice Department grant program for school safety
Most of the focus has been on the background check portion, by far
the most sweeping and contentious of the three. Right now the bill as
currently written contains a background-check plan authored by Sen. Chuck Schumer,
D-N.Y. But in light of the Manchin-Toomey compromise rolled out
yesterday, if the Senate advances the legislation Thursday, Sen. Harry
Reid has said one of the first amendments to the bill will be to swap
the Manchin-Toomey framework in for the Schumer placeholder. That
framework would apply background checks for gun show and Internet sales
but exempt some other personal transactions.
The Manchin-Toomey proposal, though, is causing other concerns about
the process -- the fact that the underlying bill which senators are
considering is expected to change substantively from its current form.
Many senators opposing Thursday's vote have cited the fact they don't
even know what it is they are voting on.
AMENDMENTS
If cloture is invoked, and the Senate advances to debate, Reid has
said there will be a good deal of amendments that will likely take until
next week to go through. Here are a couple amendments we know will be
offered, in addition to the Manchin-Toomey substitute:
-- Assault weapons ban
-- Limit on high-capacity magazines
There are some other bipartisan bills percolating related to mental health that may come as amendments as well.
Opponents of the bill, such as Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Mike Lee, R-Utah; and Rand Paul, R-Ky., are also expected to offer amendments.
No comments:
Post a Comment