Senate Votes 52-48 to Ban 9 Assault Weapons in Setback for Bush, NRA

The Senate voted today to prohibit the importation and manufacture of nine military-style assault weapons in a surprise defeat for the Administration, Senate Republicans and the National Rifle Assn.

The Senate voted 52 to 48 to retain in its anti-crime package a provision that would ban for three years five foreign- and four U.S.-made semiautomatic weapons--called the “weapons of choice” for criminals and drug traffickers.

Opponents of the restrictions immediately called for reconsideration of the decision. But the Senate voted 50-49 not to reconsider.

The Administration and Senate Republicans active on the bill opposed the ban and the National Rifle Assn. campaigned for its defeat.

Supporters of the assault weapon ban had said over the weekend they held little hope of winning. They said they expected to face opposition on the campaign trail this fall because of the legislation.

California’s senators, Democrat Alan Cranston and Republican Pete Wilson, voted in favor of the firearms restrictions.

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), leading the fight against the ban, said that it would hurt only the “decent, honest people” who collect these weapons or use them for target practice, or sometimes for hunting.

Hatch said “deranged psychopaths” and the “crooks and violent people will be able to get them.”

But Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) said “assault weapons put awesome killing in the hands of drug runners, hate groups and other criminals.”

“The ease with which these weapons can be obtained is fueling the arms race on the streets of every community in America,” Kennedy added. “This is literally a matter of life and death for law enforcement.”

Sen. Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.), the chief sponsor of the restrictions, said, “Assault weapons are rapidly becoming the weapon of choice for drug dealers. Our law enforcement officials are literally fed up.”

Five of the weapons included in the Metzenbaum and DeConcini proposals have already been banned from coming into the United States under an executive order signed by President Bush.

The Senate bill under consideration today initially was part of the Bush Administration’s anti-crime package, but has long since been reshaped by majority Democrats led by Senate Judiciary Chairman Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.). The Administration now opposes the measure.

In addition to the question of cracking down on firearms, the key provisions of the anti-crime package are an expansion of the death penalty, a curb on petitions for court review of sentences and relaxed standards for search and seizure by police.

The two parties differed sharply on details of those issues, as shown by the controversy over the assault weapons.

The Democrats proposed bans on assault weapons, but Republicans proposed only increased penalties to 10 years in prison for criminals who use them in the commission of violent or drug-related crimes.

Tuesday, the Senate voted 82 to 17 to kill a ban on 21 types of semiautomatic assault weapons proposed by Sen. Howard M. Metzenbaum (D-Ohio). The amendment would have also banned bullet magazines with more than 15 rounds.