President Obama on Thursday applauded the Senate Judiciary Committee's approval of a renewed assault weapons ban and called for a vote on the proposal in the full Senate and House, hours after Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he wasn't sure if he would include the ban in his gun control package.
"The full Senate and the House need to vote on this bill, as well as the measures advanced in the past week that would impose serious penalties on anyone who buys a gun as part of a scheme to arm criminals, improve school safety, and help keep guns out of the hands of criminals, people with a severe mental illness, and others who shouldn’t have them," Obama said in a statement released by the White House. "Each of these proposals deserves a vote."
Reid, who has opposed a renewed assault weapons ban in the past, said Thursday he has not yet decided whether the package he brings to the floor for a vote will include restrictions that would ban the sale and manufacture of 150 semi-automatic weapons with military-style features.
Some Democrats have said that omitting the assault weapons ban, which is strongly opposed by Republicans and some Democratic members, would improve the chances of other gun controls -- including expanded background checks and new laws governing the trafficking of firearms -- being passed.
But in his statement Thursday, Obama again left little doubt that he wanted a vote on the assault weapons ban.
"These weapons of war, when combined with high-capacity magazines, have one purpose: to inflict maximum damage as quickly as possible. They are designed for the battlefield, and they have no place on our streets, in our schools, or threatening our law enforcement officers," Obama said.
The ban, sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), passed the Judiciary Committee in a 10-8 party-line vote.
- Jonathan Easley and Alexander Bolton contributed.
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