Bipartisan group of senators unveils gun trafficking bill

WASHINGTON Gun trafficking and purchasing firearms with the intent of transferring them to someone else would become federal crimes under bipartisan legislation announced by five U.S. senators Monday.

Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy, a Democrat, said the bill would establish tough penalties for those who buy a firearm or ammunition with the intent of transferring it to a criminal or a person barred from gun ownership, known as a straw purchase. The measure would also make it a crime to smuggle firearms out of the United States.

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The Judiciary Committee has taken a lead in considering the gun violence issue following the shooting massacre last December at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, that left 20 children and six educators dead.

Leahy said there is no federal law now that defines either gun trafficking or straw purchasing as crimes.

"Instead of a slap on the wrist or treating this as if it were simply a paperwork violation, these crimes under our bill would be punishable by up to 25 years in prison," he said Monday on the Senate floor.

The legislation will be taken up by the Judiciary Committee on Thursday as part of a package of four bills aimed at reducing gun violence. The others involve regulating assault weapons, enhancing school safety and requiring background checks for all firearm sales.

The proposed legislation would make it a crime to transfer a weapon when a person has "reasonable cause to believe" that the firearm will be used in criminal activity. It contains exemptions for the transfer of a firearm as a gift, or in relation to a legitimate raffle or contest.

While existing law makes it a crime to smuggle firearms into the United States, the Senate proposal would also ban the smuggling of weapons out of the United States. That provision is specifically aimed at the trafficking of arms across the Mexican border.

[GOP-R--Con-Men]

"Bipartisan group of senators unveils gun trafficking bill"

All part of being constitutionally directed as "Well Regulated"

[winchester70]

The proposed legislation can best be described as "bovine scatology". Apologies to the late "Stormin' Norman".

[Tank_Commander]

Here is what CBS doesn't say about the bill: http://www.gunowners.org/alert03042013.htm
Moreover, it's currently illegal to traffic in firearms. It's illegal to sell a gun to a prohibited person [18 USC 922(d)]. It's illegal to serve as a straw man [18 USC 922(d)]. It's illegal to sell a bunch of guns without a license [18 USC 922(a)]. But that's not what S. 54 is about. The one thing S. 54 would do is to make gun bans being passed by every anti-gun state into federal crimes as well.

[Ulgnud]

Forget about it. Enforce the laws you have. Not make new unenforcible ones to pander to the hysterical sheeple. My rights are not on the table for infringement.

[alphaa10000]

The "hysterical sheeple" are those who claim all their guns are about to be confiscated. As for your rights, these do not include the right to misstate facts in public places, claiming old gun control laws work.

The present federal firearms registry misses almost half of the gun transactions, which is no model for an effective law.

And since you object to pandering, why remain a member of the NRA, chief panderer for the gun industry, whom it represents? In contrast to Wayne LaPierre, most NRA members endorse some degree of gun regulation. In a survey conducted by GOP pollster Ed Luntz, 75 percent said they favor reasonable gun control measures, like effective background checks.

[highlndr55]

One more law that Eric Holder will not enforce.

[1notrub11]

And, has already violated.

[RobertVBrand]

Like most of Congress's gun laws, it is unenforceable. But it gives Congressmen a chance to say they have done something.