WASHINGTON — The Senate on Wednesday rejected letting people carry hidden guns in 48 states if they have a concealed-weapon permit in any one of them, a rare victory for gun-control advocates in a Democratic-controlled Congress that has been friendly to the gun lobby.
Opponents of the measure said it would force states with tough concealed-weapon-permit restrictions to let in gun carriers from states that give permits to convicted criminals, minors and people with no firearms training.
"It's extremely dangerous policy," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., noting that her state demands fingerprinting, federal background checks, a course of training, and verification by a local sheriff before issuing a permit to carry a concealed gun.
A strong majority of the Senate, in a 58-39 vote, supported the measure, which would require most states to honor the concealed-weapons permits issued by other states. But the tally was two votes short of the 60 votes needed to add the measure as an amendment to a defense bill.
People are also reading…
Twenty Democrats, mainly from Western or rural states, joined all but two Republicans in voting for the measure, which was promoted by the National Rifle Association and other gun-rights groups.
There were notable defections. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., who voted to strip the District of Columbia of its gun-control laws last February, opposed the concealed-weapon measure.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, a pro-gun-rights Democrat who faces a primary challenge next year in a state with strong gun-control sentiments, also opposed it. "I strongly believe that the gun laws that are right for New York are not necessarily right for South Dakota, and vice versa," she said.
NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre told The Associated Press that, despite the defeat, the vote showed that "we have the wind to our back." Those who opposed it, LaPierre warned, "will see it reflected in support from their constituents."
The chief sponsor of the measure, Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said it would reduce crime by allowing law-abiding citizens such as truck drivers to protect themselves as they travel from one state to another.
Opponents cited incidents they said proved the opposite.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., mentioned a Washington state man given a concealed-weapon permit despite a history of drug addiction and schizophrenia who in 2008 shot and wounded three people at a public festival. In 2007, a Cincinnati woman with a permit to carry a concealed weapon shot and killed a panhandler who asked her for 25 cents at a gas station, he said.
The Violence Policy Center, a gun-control-advocacy group, released a study this week finding that holders of concealed-handgun permits killed at least seven police officers and 44 private citizens during the two-year period that ended in April.
Arizona votes
Sens. Jon Kyl and John McCain voted in favor of an amendment establishing concealed-carry-permit reciprocity in the 48 states that allow the carrying of concealed weapons.
Source: The Associated Press
