WASHINGTON — The Republican-controlled Senate rejected fresh restrictions on sales at gun shows Wednesday in Congress' first vote on gun control since last month's shooting spree at Columbine High School.

Instead, on a vote of 53-45, the Senate signaled support for a system of voluntary background checks on private sales at gun shows.

The developments marked a victory for the National Rifle Association and a defeat for gun control advocates, who had claimed that the shooting deaths in Littleton — the latest in a string of violent episodes in the nation's schools — would give their cause fresh momentum. Instead, their plan was killed on a vote of 51-47. Colorado Sens. Wayne Allard and Ben Nighthorse Campbell, both Republicans, voted against the proposed restrictions.

"There are many criminals who use gun shows as a place to procure their weaponry to commit the mayhem that they do," argued Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., who led the failed drive to close what he said was a "loophole" in the current law that allows private sales at gun shows without instant background checks.

He said there was evidence that some of the weapons used in the Colorado shooting spree had been purchased by a young woman at a gun show.

But Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, countered that Lautenberg's proposal would impose fresh restrictions on "private citizens who come to gun shows and engage in discussion with other private citizens and decide to exchange or sell their guns."

"Is that a loophole?" asked Craig, who is a member of the NRA board.

The developments came as the Senate debated legislation to stiffen prosecution of juvenile crime, largely by providing added funds to prosecutors, making it easier to try suspects as young as 14 as adults and providing for tougher penalties.

In the wake of the Littleton shootings, the measure also attracted Democratic gun control amendments as well as provisions crafted by Republicans to explore the connection between violence in music, video games and movies — and real life.

Thus, Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., and a bipartisan group of senators won approval for a limited antitrust exemption to allow competing companies in the entertainment industry to explore creation of a voluntary code of conduct to restrict the amount of violence aimed at children.

In addition, the proposal calls for a study of the entertainment industry to see whether it is marketing violence to children.

"We live unfortunately in a culture that glorifies violence ... presented not as a horror, but as entertainment," said Brownback.

But in a move that underscored the Democratic insistence that guns be addressed as a cause of violence, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., won acceptance for a parallel study of the gun industry to see whether it is marketing its products to children.

In the debate over gun control, Craig said that 98 percent of the vendors at gun shows are licensed dealers, and all their customers are subjected to background checks imposed under the Brady bill that was approved in 1993. But he also said that so-called private sales, which are exempt from background checks, accounted for roughly 40 percent of all sales at gun shows.

While his plan was voluntary, he said it contained incentives to entice private collectors to conduct checks on their customers, including limited protection from liability in future lawsuits.

That only raised more objections from Democrats, who said that the only people who currently enjoy liability protection are diplomats and some health insurance companies.

"Tens of thousands of firearms are sold at these events with no background checks or record keeping," said Lautenberg. "You can just walk into a gun show, put down your cash and walk away with a gun, semiautomatic or any other deadly weapons."

The debate was forceful, as Craig accused Lautenberg of misstating key facts at one or two points, and gun control advocates made specific references to the National Rifle Association and its vaunted lobbying prowess.

The administration included the proposal in a package of gun control measures it unveiled in the wake of the Littleton shootings, which the NRA last week denounced as "a litany of anti-gun schemes that would affect only the law-abiding."

The outcome on the Senate floor seemed preordained, though, as Republicans spread the word in advance they had the votes to defeat Lautenberg's proposal.

The vote to table, and thus kill Lautenberg's proposal was 51-47, with Democrats Max Cleland of Georgia and Max Baucus of Montana joining 49 Republicans.

Six Republicans crossed party lines and sided with the Democratic advocates of the measure. They were Sens. John Chafee of Rhode Island, Mike Dewine and George Voinovich of Ohio, Peter Fitzgerald of Illinois, Dick Lugar of Indiana and John Warner of Virginia.

On the vote in favor of the system of voluntary checks, Chafee, Fitzgerald and Sen. William Roth of Delaware joined all voting Democrats in opposition.

Democratic gun control advocates are expected to offer additional proposals on Thursday, but Republicans expressed confidence they could turn those aside, as well.

The GOP-crafted legislation includes one gun control provision. The "juvenile Brady" measure would prohibit possession of a firearm by anyone who was convicted of a violent felony as a juvenile.

May 13, 1999

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