The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote Thursday on a new bipartisan gun control measure. This will be the first scheduled vote on legislation introduced in the wake of the school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut.
The “Stop Illegal Trafficking in Firearms Act of 2013” would ban illegal gun trafficking and buying, also known as “straw purchasing.” If the bill passes, people convicted of illegally passing guns to those who commit crimes could face up to 20 years in prison.
“This illegal trafficking ban is an absolutely critical cornerstone of a comprehensive strategy to help stop gun violence,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), one of the bill’s co-sponsors, told NewsNation’s Tamron Hall.
Blumenthal said this legislation is only one part of a greater strategy for gun control that includes universal criminal background checks and a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
This bill is sponsored by four Democrats and two Republicans. “On the background check bill, I think we can muster bipartisan support,” said Blumenthal. “Now there’s a spectrum here of political acceptability, so to speak, and bipartisan support, and maybe the assault weapon is the toughest, most uphill climb for any of these measures. But they all have legs, and especially if the NRA is counting on the Connecticut effect dissipating or fading, I think it’s very sadly mistaken.”