Posts tagged Assault

Source: politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com – Saturday, March 23, 2013
(CNN) – President Barack Obama called on the Senate to vote on a controversial ban on semiautomatic firearms modeled after military-style assault weapons, despite dim predictions from Senate leadership that such a ban will have any luck passing the upper chamber. "These ideas shouldn't be controversial – they're common sense. They're supported by a majority of the American people. And I urge the Senate and the House to give each of them a vote," Obama said in his weekly address. He said there is still "genuine disagreement among well-meaning people" on how to combat gun violence. But he, added, the American people "have spoken." On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, introduced gun legislation targeted toward curbing gun deaths. However, it did not include the so-called assault weapons ban, nor another proposal backed by the Obama administration that would place limits on magazine capacities. The bill instead included measures that expand the background check system, boost school safety and toughen laws for gun trafficking. The Senate will begin debating the bill once it returns from recess in two weeks. Because of fierce opposition by the National Rifle Association, Republicans and some Democrats would get fewer than 40 votes on the assault weapons ban, Reid said, far below the threshold needed to defeat a filibuster or pass the Senate. He added that Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, the main proponent behi

Obama urges vote on assault weapons ban