Two weeks after the Colorado movie theater shooting that claimed a dozen lives, Congress took a five-week-long recess Friday without acting on a new gun control measure proposed by a Long Island lawmaker.
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) had proposed the Stop Online Ammunition Sales Act, which would restrict the sale of ammunition through the mail or online—like how James Holmes, the suspected gunman in the massacre, reportedly bought 6,000 rounds.
“When you buy a gun on the Internet you have to go to a store to pick that gun up,” McCarthy said at a Manhattan news conference last week. “Well, if you’re going to be buying these kinds of large amounts of ammunition you know what? Somebody should see your face.”
Under the bill, only licensed dealers would be allowed to sell ammunition. They would have to notify a law enforcement official within five business days about any sale of more than 1,000 rounds to an unlicensed person.
The bill also would require buyers who aren’t licensed dealers to show a photo ID. And that would mean eye contact with someone purchasing ammunition.
“With the schedule that we have, we are not going to get into the debate on gun control,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told CNN last week before the break.
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) was also quoted as saying last week he didn’t expect the debate to come up.
President Barack Obama has not endorsed the legislation. His Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, holds a similar stance that current gun laws should be enforced.
McCarthy was elected as an advocate for gun control after her husband was killed and her son was wounded in the 1993 Long Island Rail Road massacre.
Holmes is facing two counts of first-degree murder for each of the 12 people killed and two counts of attempted first-degree murder for each of the 58 people wounded when the suspect allegedly opened fire on moviegoers on July 20, the opening night of The Dark Knight Rises.
-With Associated Press
