House Repeals Assault Weapon Ban

WASHINGTON (CNN, March 22) -- In what is largely a political gesture, the House of Representatives today repealed a two-year-old ban on assault weapons.

The bill is considered dead on arrival, however. The Senate is not expected to approve the measure, the White House has vowed to veto it and neither house appears to have enough votes to override a veto.

It was a fiery debate on both sides.

"You don't know what it's like unless you have someone in your family killed," said Rep. Patrick Kennedy (224K AIFF or WAV sound), (D-R.I.), who is the son of Sen. Edward Kennedy and the nephew of President John Kennedy and Sen. Robert Kennedy, who were both assassinated.

Rep. Gerald Solomon (R-N.Y.), ripped Kennedy for questioning the integrity of House backers of the repeal. He said his wife, alone five days a week in Solomon's upstate New York district, has a right to have a gun in the house for protection (224K AIFF or WAV sound).

"She has a right to defend herself when I'm not there, son, and don't you ever forget it," Solomon told Kennedy.

The 239-173 vote is likely to have an impact on the campaign trail even if the

measure never lands in the law books.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) persuaded its allies on Capitol Hill to schedule a roll-call vote on the repeal measure to see where members of Congress stand on the issue.

House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Tex.) said the vote is not solely NRA-driven. Members who ran on the issue in 1994 want their constituents to know they've kept their word, he said.

Opponents of the repeal included members of the Clinton administration. They are taking aim at the move to repeal the ban, which covers 19 styles of firearms and dozens of similar weapons as well as large-capacity ammunition magazines like the one used by the assailant in the Long Island commuter train attack three years ago.

President Bill Clinton, who has promised to veto the measure if it makes it to the Oval Office, said Thursday the measure would "endanger law enforcement officials if it does pass. It will cost more citizens their lives if it does pass. The only people who will be benefited are people who engage in illegal activity."

Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, Vice President Al Gore and Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick planned to voice their opposition to the measure hours before the House was to vote on it this afternoon.

Never mind that the repeal will not likely become law, the very notion that it is coming to a vote is stirring passions of activists on both sides of the issue.

Rep. Charles Schumer, D-New York, an author of the 1994 assault-weapons ban, called an impromptu hearing on the issue Thursday. Among those who testified was a man whose wife was killed with an assault weapon.

"This is what these things do, this is what the vote's about tomorrow folks. Let it be real clear. It's about breaking the bond between a mother and a daughter. My wife took five bullets in the back from one of these things. Megan was 10 months old. This is what the vote's about," said witness Steve Sposato during the hearing (297K AIFF or WAV sound).

Supporters of the repeal say crime victims are misdirecting their anger.

"Taking guns away from law-abiding citizens makes absolutely no sense. The real answer to cutting the violent crime problem in the United States of America is holding violent criminals responsible for their behavior," said Rep. Gil Gutknecht (R-Minn.) in an interview with CNN today (165K AIFF or WAV sound).

Rep. Nita Lowey, D-New York, took exception with her colleague's opinion. "The assault weapons ban is important, and it's an outrage that the NRA controls the leadership of this Congress," she said (231K AIFF or WAV sound).

For its part, the NRA is unwavering in its support of the repeal.

"We've lost freedom for somebody to buy the firearm of their choice," NRA Chief Lobbyist Tanya Metaksa told CNN. "What we've lost is the right to self-defense ... The American people want the right to defend themselves against the true assault weapons -- the two-legged variety, the ones that come after you with anything they can get, including a gun, a knife or a baseball bat (215K AIFF or WAV sound)."

Last year Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole and House Speaker Newt Gingrich promised the NRA a vote on whether to repeal the weapons ban.

"I am not optimistic there is sufficient support in the Senate to pass the repeal," Dole said in a statement issued Thursday. He said he would meet with colleagues after the House vote to decide on "the best course of action."

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