| Gun control measures pass
By NCR STAFF
With Vice President Al Gore casting a tie-breaking vote May 20,
the U.S. Senate passed a Democratic proposal to require background checks of
people who purchase weapons at gun shows. The Senate had rejected the bill only
a week earlier.
The bill’s passage came just hours after a school shooting in
Conyers, Ga., injured six students, and one month after 15 deaths in a Colorado
high school.
Six Republicans voted for the amendment proposed by Sen. Frank
Lautenberg, D-New Jersey. The same six had backed a slightly different version
of the bill the previous week.
In the earlier vote, two Democrats voted against the measure and
two were absent. Three of those Democrats backed the bill in the second vote,
resulting in a 50-50 tie. Gore cast the 51st vote.
The same day, the Senate overwhelmingly approved a Republican
proposal to eliminate loopholes in regulations requiring background checks for
weapons purchases.
National Catholic Reporter, May 28,
1999
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