Senate backers of expanded gun background checks scramble for votes

By David Lawder and John Whitesides

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan proposal to expand background checks for gun buyers appeared on Tuesday to be short of the 60 votes needed to clear the Senate, as supporters scrambled to save the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's effort to reduce gun violence.

But Senate leaders scheduled a Wednesday vote for the expanded background checks plan forged by Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Republican Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, along with eight other amendments ranging from banning assault weapons to expanding permission to carry concealed firearms.

The proposals need 60 votes to overcome procedural hurdles erected by Republican opponents in the 100-seat Senate, where Democrats control 55 seats.

With several Democrats from conservative, gun-friendly states possibly voting against the measure, supporters have been hunting for more Republican support, which has proven elusive.

"It's going to be close," a senior Senate Democratic aide said of the vote scheduled for around 4 p.m. (2000 GMT).

Republican Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, who opposes the proposal, told reporters that its supporters "don't have the votes to pass it."

He intends to offer a substitute amendment on Wednesday and argued that the Manchin-Toomey plan would not have stopped the December massacre of 20 school children and six adults in Newtown, Connecticut, or other mass shootings.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid rejected the idea that the background checks amendment had lost momentum since it was announced last week and was headed to defeat.

"Am I saying it's all over with, done, we've got the votes? No. But we certainly feel we have the wind at our back," Reid told reporters.

The Manchin-Toomey amendment to extend criminal background checks to online and gun-show sales has been seen as Obama's best hope for meaningful gun-control legislation in response to the Newtown shootings.

Opinion polls show more than 80 percent of Americans favor expanded background checks, but the amendment is opposed by the National Rifle Association gun lobby and most Republicans in the Democrat-led Senate. Even if it clears the Senate, it would face a rough ride in the Republican-led House of Representatives.

The NRA has warned lawmakers it will include their vote in the ratings it compiles on them and sends to its 4 million members. Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a gun-control group backed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has also said it will rate members of Congress based on their votes.

Former U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, severely wounded in a 2011 mass shooting in Arizona, urged Senate Democrats to pass the measure during an appearance at their weekly luncheon.

Reid said Manchin also made a "moving, tearful" presentation at the luncheon.

"We are optimistic that this can pass," Giffords' husband, Mark Kelly, told reporters after the meeting. "It's going to take a little work. That's why Gabby and I are here."

RURAL STATE COMPROMISE?

Administration officials, including Vice President Joe Biden, have helped Manchin and Toomey lobby senators.

Relatives of Newtown victims also visited Washington last week and held emotional meetings with lawmakers in which they urged them to support expanded background checks and other measures.

Among Republicans, only Toomey, Susan Collins of Maine and Mark Kirk of Illinois have committed to support the Senate proposal. John McCain of Arizona, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, said on Sunday he was "favorably disposed" to it.

Several Democratic senators from states where hunting and guns are popular - including Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Mark Begich of Alaska and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana - remain uncommitted.

Democrats have explored changes to the background checks deal to allow exemptions in rural areas that do not have federally licensed gun dealers. The compromise would be aimed at winning senators from rural states such as Heitkamp and Begich.

"It's something we're looking at," Democratic Senator Charles Schumer of New York told reporters. "I never let the perfect be the enemy of the good."

But Republican opponents were increasingly confident they would win any showdown vote on the background checks.

"I don't think Toomey-Manchin is going to fly. I don't know where (they are) going to get the votes," Republican Senator Mike Johanns of Nebraska told reporters, adding that the entire gun bill was in "serious trouble."

'NEW OBLIGATIONS' ON GUN OWNERS?

Whatever is eventually agreed to appears likely to fall far short of what Obama sought immediately after the Newtown shootings. The bill also includes tighter restrictions on gun trafficking and more funding for school security.

Amendments to add restrictions such as a ban on the sale of rapid-firing "assault" weapons like the one used in Newtown and limits on the capacity of ammunition magazines appear to have little chance for approval.

Opponents of the Manchin-Toomey plan and some other elements of the legislation say the proposals are an example of government overreach that would infringe on the constitutional right to bear arms.

"Manchin-Toomey would impose new obligations on law-abiding gun owners," Grassley said.

Manchin and Toomey, both conservatives and strong proponents of gun rights, have argued that their proposal would simply make it more difficult for criminals and the mentally ill to buy guns.

Their amendment includes sweeteners for gun-rights supporters, including a provision that would make licensed interstate sales easier and ban the creation of a gun registry, one of the frequent fears cited by groups such as the NRA.

(Editing by David Lindsey, David Brunnstrom and Paul Simao)

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Gun rights backers vow court fight against new Colorado laws

By Keith Coffman

DENVER (Reuters) - Only a day after Colorado's governor signed laws setting limits on ammunition and imposing background checks, gun rights advocates have vowed to sue, some county sheriffs have declined to enforce the measures, and an ammunition magazine manufacturer is leaving the state.

The measures signed into law on Wednesday by Governor John Hickenlooper will ban ammunition magazines with more than 15 rounds, require universal background checks for gun buyers and force gun buyers to pay for their own background checks.

Colorado has seen two of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history, and the legislation represented an effort to prevent those types of killings. The measures were also passed during a national debate over firearms violence reignited by the December slayings of 20 children and six adults at a school in Connecticut.

The laws' passages are considered a victory for Democrats in a state where gun ownership is treasured.

The Denver-based libertarian group Independence Institute said it would file a lawsuit either in state or federal court against Colorado seeking to block the measures that are set to go into effect on July 1.

"We're going to court and the people in 2014 are going to have an opportunity to choose a new legislature and a new governor," said David Kopel, research director for the group.

In another challenge to gun-control measures enacted after the Connecticut school shootings, a National Rifle Association affiliate filed a lawsuit on Thursday charging that New York state's laws banning assault weapons and limiting the size of ammunition magazines violated the constitutional right to bear arms.

MANUFACTURER LEAVING

Ammunition magazine manufacturer Magpul, which has a plant in Erie, Colorado, threatened before the passage of the Colorado bill to leave the state and take away what its executives said were 200 direct jobs and 400 jobs at related companies in its supply chain.

On its Facebook page, Magpul said it would go through with the threat to move, and supporters posted comments inviting them to their own states such as Missouri and Nevada.

"Our transition to a new home will occur in a phased and orderly manner to allow us to continue to serve our customers during the move, as well as to allow an orderly transition for affected employees," the company's statement on Facebook said.

A representative for Magpul did not return calls.

Eric Brown, spokesman for the governor, said in an email that nothing in the bills signed by Hickenlooper would prevent Magpul from "manufacturing here and selling elsewhere."

Meanwhile, a number of county sheriffs in Colorado have said they cannot or will not enforce the new gun control laws, even as the governor's office has directed state officials to give law enforcement agencies technical guidance on how the magazine limits in particular should be interpreted and enforced.

"We expect sheriffs to follow all state laws to the best of their abilities," Brown said.

In July 2012, a gunman opened fire in a crowded theater at the opening night of the Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises" in the Denver suburb of Aurora, killing 12 people and wounding 58 others.

Colorado was also the site of a 1999 massacre at Columbine High School, where two teenagers shot dead a teacher and 12 other students before committing suicide.

(This story corrects to show Magpul is an ammunition magazine manufacturer, not an ammunition manufacturer)

(Additional reporting by Joseph Ax in New York; Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Peter Cooney)

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Gun rights backers vow court fight against new Colorado laws

By Keith Coffman

DENVER (Reuters) - Only a day after Colorado's governor signed laws setting limits on ammunition and imposing background checks, gun rights advocates have vowed to sue, some county sheriffs have declined to enforce the measures, and an ammunition manufacturer is leaving the state.

The measures signed into law on Wednesday by Governor John Hickenlooper will ban ammunition magazines with more than 15 rounds, require universal background checks for gun buyers and force gun buyers to pay for their own background checks.

Colorado has seen two of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history, and the legislation represented an effort to prevent those types of killings. The measures were also passed amid a national debate over firearm violence reignited by the December slayings of 20 children and six adults at a school in Connecticut.

The laws passages are considered a victory for Democrats in a state where gun ownership is treasured and debate has occurred in the wake of two mass shootings.

The Denver-based libertarian group Independence Institute said it would file a lawsuit either in state or federal court against Colorado seeking to block the measures that are set to go into effect on July 1.

"We're going to court and the people in 2014 are going to have an opportunity to choose a new legislature and a new governor," said David Kopel, research director for the group.

MANUFACTURER LEAVING

Ammunition manufacturer Magpul, which has a plant in Erie, Colorado, threatened before the passage of the bill to leave the state and take away what its executives said were 200 direct jobs and 400 jobs at related companies in its supply chain.

On its Facebook page, Magpul said it would go through with the threat to move, and supporters posted comments inviting them to their own states such as Missouri and Nevada.

"Our transition to a new home will occur in a phased and orderly manner to allow us to continue to serve our customers during the move, as well as to allow an orderly transition for affected employees," the company's statement on Facebook said.

A representative for Magpul did not return calls.

Eric Brown, spokesman for the governor, said in an email that nothing in the bills signed by Hickenlooper would prevent Magpul from "manufacturing here and selling elsewhere."

Meanwhile, a number of county sheriffs in Colorado have said they cannot or will not enforce the new gun control laws, even as the governor's office has directed state officials to give law enforcement agencies technical guidance on how the magazine limits in particular should be interpreted and enforced.

"We expect sheriffs to follow all state laws to the best of their abilities," Brown said.

In July 2012, a gunman opened fire in a crowded theater at the opening night of the Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises" in the Denver suburb of Aurora, killing 12 people and wounding 58 others.

Colorado was also the site of a 1999 massacre at Columbine High School, where two teenagers shot dead a teacher and 12 other students before committing suicide.

(Writing by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and L Gevirtz)

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