Senate panel to vote on assault weapons ban

A Senate panel is poised Tuesday to pass a bill that would ban assault weapons and place limits on high-capacity ammunition magazines, as well as two other measures aimed at reducing gun violence.

The Senate Judiciary Committee continues its efforts to move legislation aimed at addressing mass shootings like the one at a Connecticut elementary school that left 20 children and six adults dead on Dec. 14. Besides the measure to ban 157 types of military-style assault weapons, also on tap Tuesday are a bill to expand background checks on all gun purchases and legislation to increase federal grant money for school safety improvements.

Given the panel’s Democratic majority, all of the bills are expected to pass. Each measure, however, faces varying levels of uncertainty on the Senate floor in their current forms, especially the proposed assault weapons ban. The bill by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is opposed by the National Rifle Association as well as Republicans and Democrats who hail from states with high gun-ownership rates.