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U.S. NEWSWednesday 22 June 2016
Republican senator seeks bipartisan support for gun dealÂ
ALAN FRAM of around 2,800 people
on those lists are foreign-
MARY JALONICK ers, who are mostly unable
to purchase firearms in
Associated Press the U.S.
Under Collins’ proposal,
WASHINGTON (AP) — A Americans denied guns
could appeal their rejec-
moderate Republican sen- tions to federal courts. The
FBI would be notified if
ator sought broad biparti- someone who’s been on
the broader terrorist watch
san support Tuesday for a list in the past five years
buys a gun, but could not
compromise to block gun stop the purchase.
Even after 49 victims died
purchases by some sus- on a June 12 Orlando ram-
page by a sympathizer of
pected terrorists, a day af- Islamic State extremists,
neither party has seemed
ter the chamber split along overly eager to plunge for-
ward into a compromise.
party lines to derail far more Such a deal might anger
their most loyal voters, NRA-
sweeping proposals. backing conservatives and
pro-gun-control liberals,
Senate Majority Leader and shield the other side
from negative campaign
Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., ads.
Underscoring that, senators
said he would allow a vote backing Collins empha-
sized the political risks they
on the proposal by Sen. were taking. Sen. Heidi
Heitkamp, D-N.D., said they
Susan Collins, R-Maine, but were taking “a pretty ter-
rifying, in some ways, first
stopped short of endors- step into trying to achieve
bipartisan consensus.â€
ing the measure itself. The Senate Minority Leader
Harry Reid, D-Nev., praised
package seemed to face lawmakers involved with
Collins for having “serious
an uphill climb, thanks to bipartisan talks,†but didn’t
endorse her plan.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, right, introduces Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., during a news conference the hurdles of election-year
on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 21, 2016, to unveil a new gun legislation proposal. Other top Democrats
From left are Sen. Bill Nelson, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., Sen. Jeff Flake, politics and opposition seemed to revel in the divi-
R-Ariz., and Collins. sions Collins’ proposal were
from the National Rifle As- causing between the NRA
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci) and the GOP, whose mem-
sociation and Gun Owners bers usually cast strong
gun-rights votes.
of America. “What potentially is hap-
pening here, is Republi-
Flanked by eight sena- cans are finally breakingâ€
from the NRA, said Sen.
tors — three Republicans, Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., his
chamber’s No. 3 Demo-
four Democrats and a cratic leader. “I’m glad
it’s happened, whether it’s
Democratic-leaning inde- politically advantageous
or not.â€q
pendent — Collins told re-
porters that mass shootings
in Orlando, Florida, and
San Bernardino, California,
were “a call for compro-
mise, a plea for bipartisan
action.â€
“If we can’t pass this, it
truly is a broken system up
here,†said Sen. Lindsey
Graham, R-S.C.
On Monday, the Senate
rejected rival Democratic
and Republican propos-
als for keeping guns from
known and suspected ter-
rorists.
The government’s overall
terrorist watch list has 1 mil-
lion people on it.
Collins’ measure would
let federal authorities bar
gun sales to two narrower
groups of suspected terror-
ists: the no-fly list with 81,000
people and the selectee
list with 28,000 people. Se-
lectees can fly after unusu-
ally intensive screening.
All but a combined total