GOP Unveils Its Gun-Control Strategy

House Republicans on Tuesday rolled out their version of the gun-control legislation that passed the Senate last month and, in a reversal of strategy, announced that it would be debated next week by the full House without any of the usual committee votes.

Democrats immediately ridiculed the GOP measures and tactics, predicting that the fine print in the House legislation would reveal loopholes planted by gun-rights advocates, who have had weeks to zero in on the legislation since the May 20 Senate vote.

Based on a brief summary of the GOP proposals made public by Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and interviews with his staff, it was unclear whether the gun-control measures as formally introduced would be substantially watered down.

One of the few proposed compromises that the GOP staff noted was a change in the maximum period allowed for criminal background checks of would-be gun purchasers at gun shows. Instead of allowing three business days for the checks, as called for in the Senate bill, the period would be three calendar days. Democrats, though, said they had seen Republican-floated proposals for a 24-hour limit.

There also were proposed changes in the definition of a gun show and in record-keeping requirements for gun-show sales. The National Rifle Assn. had complained about both provisions. But the exact wording of the Hyde proposals was not available Tuesday night.

Gun shows are a focus of legislation because they provide a convenient venue for people who want to sell or buy guns without submitting to background checks. Federally licensed gun dealers, many of whom sell at gun shows, are already required to perform such checks. But unlicensed vendors are not.

Hyde’s aides insisted that the House proposals largely mirrored what the Senate passed: closing the gun-show loophole, banning importation of high-capacity ammunition magazines, requiring safety devices to be sold with guns and outlawing juvenile possession of assault weapons.

There was an additional proposal to raise the minimum age for handgun purchases from 18 to 21.

“Our legislation will protect children from violent crime,” Hyde said in a news release. “We will create tougher penalties for gun crimes and tighten up existing gun-law loopholes.”

But Democrats charged that the decision by GOP leaders to bypass Hyde’s committee for a full House vote next week--in contrast to previous statements that the issue would be worked deliberately through the committee process--showed the Republicans’ dependence on the gun lobby.

“If it was ever unclear about who is really in charge of the House, it is now clear. It is the NRA,” charged Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.). “Republicans are simply acting as their marionettes.”

Hyde denied being pressured by the NRA. “They have not talked to me,” he said in a brief interview. “Our staff has, of course, talked to them.”

For some Republicans, the House package could prove easier to swallow than the Senate’s.

Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho), a member of the governing board of the NRA who has strongly opposed some of the key actions taken in the Senate, signaled his approval of the direction House Republicans have taken.

“I have not seen the final work-product,” Craig said, “but it appears to me that what is coming out of the House committee is much closer to what I can support.”

Times staff writer Stephen Fuzesi contributed to this story.