Senate Backs Handgun Safety Locks

The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly agreed to require child safety locks on all handguns sold in the United States as part of a Republican-pushed package to immunize gun makers and sellers from lawsuits arising from gun crimes.

Senators voted 70-27 for the legislation after pleas from Democratic Sens. Barbara Boxer of California and Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, who said the legislation would help stop children from accidentally shooting themselves with handguns they find inside the home.

"If we were to pass this legislation and it become the law of the land, the number of children involved in the number of accidental shootings would go way down," said Boxer, who cited FBI statistics showing a child killed by a firearm every three hours.

Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, a sponsor of the original bill, said gun manufacturers already are working on the problem. Also, he said locks won't guarantee that guns can't be misused and that the amendment would be an intrusion of the federal government into people's homes.

"I don't believe the government ought to be telling people how to store an object in the home," Craig said.

The Senate in 1999 passed similar legislation, but the House refused to approve the measure.

The House passed the gun maker immunity bill last year.

Democrats plan to try and attach their other gun legislation to the bill providing for general immunity from lawsuits when a legally sold gun is subsequently used in a crime. In a test vote Tuesday, that bill got 75 votes, which would be more than enough to pass the Senate next week.

Before the final vote on Tuesday, Democrats plan to force votes on a proposal to require unlicensed sellers to check buyers' backgrounds at gun shows and to extend for 10 years the ban on assault weapons.

Supporters of the gun maker immunity bill plan to argue against most of the Democratic amendments, saying any attempt to make changes simply amounts to an attempt to kill the bill. For example, the GOP-controlled House already has said it does not plan to approve an extension of the expiring assault weapons ban.

The White House, which has indicated support for the assault weapons ban and the gun show measure, called on the Senate to pass the legislation without amendments.

"Any amendment that would delay enactment of the bill beyond this year is unacceptable," according to a White House statement released late Tuesday.

Democrats took that statement as an indication that President Bush was backing off his support for those two separate measures. "For the president to say he's for the assault weapons ban and act against it, that is a flip-flop if I've ever seen one," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

Republicans, along with some Senate Democrats, have pushed for the gun immunity legislation for some time. Gun advocates say firearm manufacturers make legal products and should not have to spend millions of dollars fighting off suits.

Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, agreed to get behind the legislation after gun supporters agreed that firearms makers and distributors would not be immune to suits involving defective products or illegal sales. Daschle said his party's support comes "in part because of the acknowledgment of the need to address some of these concerns."

Other Democrats said the bill was nothing more than a giveaway to the gun industry. "We have huge problems in this country, but we're spending time trying to protect the special interests of a special group," said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I.

By Jesse J. Holland