Dems to split up on assault weapons vote

Issue won't be used as test of party loyalty

March 21, 1996
Web posted at: 10:20 p.m. EST

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Bowing to election-year pressures, the House Democratic leadership will allow its members to vote in favor of repealing the assault weapons ban Friday even though President Clinton is opposed to overturning the law.

A member of the House Democratic leadership told CNN it was forced to acknowledge that too many members were hurt in the 1994 congressional races by voting for the ban.

"We decided we had to give all the Democrats a pass on this vote and let them vote however they need to," the Democratic leader said.

President Clinton has threatened to veto the measure if it passes Congress.

Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole said that while he believes the ban doesn't work, he doubts there is sufficient support in the Senate for the repeal to pass.

Dole said that after the House vote Friday he will confer with colleagues on "the best course of (Senate) action."

The National Rifle Association (NRA) used the assault weapons ban and the crime bill as a wedge issue against a number of Democrats from rural and anti-gun control districts when Republicans won control of Congress in the 1994 elections.

One Democratic incumbent who lost his re-election effort that year was Congressman Dick Swett of New Hampshire. He actually broke down in tears on the campaign trail and later said it was because of the pressure he felt from NRA lobbying in his district. Swett's loss was largely attributed to the NRA effort.

House Democrats don't want to repeat the losses of the last election year, so leaders say they won't make Friday's vote a test of party loyalty.

But Attorney General Janet Reno Thursday said it was "unconscionable to think that special interests in Congress should or could roll (the ban) back now. "

She told reporters the number of assault weapons linked to crime had dropped 18 percent during the first year of the ban.  Associate Attorney General John Schmidt, who oversees programs to assist local police departments, said police officers were staunchly opposed to the repeal.

"I do find it almost unbelievable that Congress would be seriously talking about doing something that would be so universally viewed in the law enforcement community as inconsistent not only with effective law enforcement, but inconsistent with the protection of them as they put themselves on the line," Schmidt said.

The repeal measure is sponsored by Rep. Jim Chapman, D-Texas, and has bi-partisan support.

Related story:

• House votes Friday on bill to repeal assault weapons ban

Related sites:

• National Rifle Association
• Assault Weapons Ban - Listing of weapons affected by the ban

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