The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved a measure to reinstate a ban on assault weapons. The legislation still faces stiff resistance from Republicans and some Democrats on the Senate floor.
The legislation would also limit the size of ammunition magazines to 10 rounds.
Ten Democrats voted for the bill, while all eight Republicans were opposed.
The vote comes after the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced bills earlier in the week to enact near-universal background checks and combat gun trafficking. The committee also approved a measure last week that would make the already illegal practice of buying a gun for someone else who is legally barred from having one – known as a straw purchase – a felony and to increase penalties for the crime.
The moves are part of the congressional effort to curb gun violence in the wake of the mass shooting in Newtown, CO three months ago.
A bipartisan group of Senators, led by Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., are expected to introduce compromise legislation that would extend federal background checks to nearly every gun purchase. Schumer, along with Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., are seeking to attract support from more Republican support for bill before formally introducing a final version.
The original assault weapons ban passed in 1994 and expired in 2004.
