Assault Gun Ban Expected to Survive in Final Crime Bill : Congress: Provision is approved by Senate negotiators, and House conferees are poised to follow. Legislative package is expected to pass easily.

The much-debated ban on military-style assault weapons appeared destined for final approval after Senate negotiators voted Tuesday to keep it in the crime bill and House conferees are expected to do the same today.

The controversial ban, sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), was approved, 5 to 4, by Senate conferees as the long-delayed crime legislation moved closer to final congressional approval.

On the House side, Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.) said that he would provide the key vote today for the ban, which would prohibit future possession or sale of 19 military-style weapons and copycat models.

Hyde said in an interview that Rep. Jack Brooks (D-Tex.), who is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and is presiding over the negotiations, would join with the three other Republican conferees in opposing it. Hyde said he would join with the other five Democrats in supporting it. If none of those votes changes, the measure would win approval, 6 to 4. The provision was passed by the House, 216 to 214, last spring.

While foes of gun control in the House and Senate have threatened to vote against the final version of the $30.2-billion crime bill if the assault weapons ban is included, House Democratic leaders have predicted that it will pass easily.

Tuesday’s meeting of Senate-House conferees was their first decision-making session since the crime bill passed the House in April. Senate conferees took these actions on the bill:

* Voted without dissent to add a federal ban on virtually all possession of handguns by people under 18 years old, with exceptions for those who have parental consent or who use a handgun in their work. The provision also would bar the sale of handguns to juveniles.

* Decided 5 to 4 to shift $3.6 billion away from broad crime-fighting grants for cities and into aid aimed specifically at law enforcement agencies for computer programs and other crime-fighting techniques. About $2 billion of the funds had been intended for states and cities for such uses as public education about crime and drug treatment programs. Sen. Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.) joined the four Republican conferees on this vote.

* Approved $8.3 billion for grants to states for prison construction, including $1.8 billion for reimbursement to states for imprisoning illegal immigrants and $500 million for housing juvenile offenders. States would have to show progress toward the goal of keeping serious violent offenders in prison for 85% of their sentences. The vote was 5 to 4. On a similar vote, the Senate conferees rejected a Republican plan to increase prison grants to $13 billion.

* Refused, on another 5-4 party-line vote, to reduce grants to police by $1.6 billion. The minority wanted to spend the money instead for prison construction.

* Turned down on a 5-4 vote a Republican effort to change the federal rules of evidence to allow previous actions of a defendant accused of a sex offense to be introduced at a criminal trial. As usual, the proposal to put the assault weapons ban into the bill provoked emotional debate from advocates and opponents.

“Without that provision, the bill isn’t worth a tinker’s damn, and I think the American people agree with that,” said Sen. Howard M. Metzenbaum (D-Ohio), a longtime supporter of gun control legislation.

“Cities have become free-fire zones,” added Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), another proponent of the ban.

Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), however, said that the ban would take away the rights of Americans to buy guns for self-defense and family protection. “This is one more step to take guns out of the hands of law-abiding people,” he said. The ban would be unenforceable, Hatch predicted, because it lacks clear guidance for police on which weapons would be outlawed.