By Susan Duclos
According to Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, her gun ban, which includes 157 different weapons, will not be part of the Senate's gun bill, but can be offered as a stand alone amendment.
“My understanding is it will not be [part of the base bill],” Feinstein said. “It will be separate.”
Asked if she were concerned about the decision, Feinstein paused and said, “Sure. I would like to [see the bill moved], but the leader has decided not to do it.”
“You will have to ask him [Reid],” she said, when asked why the decision was made.
The Senate gun bill is still not guaranteed to pass in the Senate, even without Feinstein's weapons ban, and depending what is in it, will determine if it would go anywhere at all in the House of Representatives. It is also doubtful that Feinstein's weapons ban has any chance whatsoever of even passing through the Senate as a stand alone bill, and almost a certainty it would not pass the House at all, in any form.
Aside from the ban, three other major pieces of gun legislation have been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee: a gun trafficking bill, a Democrats-only background checks measure and a proposal to increase school safety.
Many speculate, including the Politico article I originally quoted from above, that Reid's reasoning was more about getting a bill together that could pass the Senate as well as providing cover for red state Democrats, giving them the chance to vote for the Senate gun bill while voting against a weapons ban.
On the flip side, that also provides fodder for conservatives that will use any votes for the Feinstein stand alone amendment, against those that voted in favor of the weapons ban.
While it is too early to officially determine Feinstein's gun ban bill dead, it is safe to say at this point, it is on life support and not expected to recover.
