Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee
approved a bill that would make it a federal crime to
purchase firearms for someone else ("straw purchase"). The anti-gun-trafficking bill is one
of the first pieces of legislation formally introduced in Congress to
limit gun violence in the wake of the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn.,
last year. Senate panel approves gun-trafficking bill:
The panel’s 10 Democrats were joined by one Republican in approving the
measure [Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) the the committee's ranking Republican], and Republicans who don’t serve on the committee are
co-sponsoring the bill, suggesting that it could earn wide bipartisan
support in the full Senate.
* * *
A bipartisan group of senators introduced the bill Monday after merging competing proposals and earning more GOP support.
Do you know who else is on the Senate Judiciary Committee? Arizona's freshman senator Jeff Flake, who has an "A" rating from the NRA. Yeah, this Flake voted against an anti-gun trafficking bill that has bipartisan support.
After all of the hysteria in this state over the gun running operation "Fast & Furious," you would think this Flake would want to do something about actual straw purchasers and gun trafficking. Apparently not.
UPDATE: The Yellow Sheet Report (subscription required) reports that Flake's spokeswoman Genevieve Rozansky "told
our reporter via email yesterday that Flake opposes universal background
checks for gun purchases." Jeff Flake unmoved by Giffords ad.