Titus: Pass high-capacity ammo ban
LV lawmaker first filed bill after Oct. 1 tragedy
WASHINGTON — A Nevada lawmaker renewed her call Tuesday for Congress to ban high-capacity magazines used in mass shootings in Las Vegas, El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.
Rep. Dina Titus, D-nev., again called for the House and Senate to pass her bill that would ban high-capacity magazines as pressure continued to build for a legislative response to ongoing gun violence tragedies that have shocked the nation. She cited the three mass shootings over a week’s span in California, Texas and Ohio.
“The senseless mass shootings in Gilroy, El Paso and Dayton provide three more tragic examples of why firearms with high-capacity magazines have no place in our communities,” Titus said.
The Las Vegas lawmaker first filed a bill to ban the ammunition magazines after the Oct. 1, 2017, shooting on the Strip. That shooting left 58 dead and hundreds wounded.
She filed the bill again at the beginning of this Congress. It has 90 co-sponsors.
“We don’t want to see any more examples,” Titus said. “Families in Las Vegas and across the country know all too well the deadly consequences of inaction.”
The shootings prompted President Donald Trump, Democrats and Republicans to call for legislation to address mental illness and gun control.
Democrats have charged Republicans with buckling to the demands of the gun lobby in blocking legislation to limit access to guns and devices that increase the rate of fire of weapons.
Nevada Democrats including, Sen. Catherine, Cortez Masto, Sen. Jacky Rosen, Rep. Susie Lee, Rep. Steven Horsford and Titus have called on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY., to act.
They want Mcconnell to call the Senate back into session from August recess and pass two background check bills that were passed by the House earlier this year.
Rep. Mark Amodei, the lone Republican in the state congressional delegation, said he wanted to let law enforcement complete their investigations before “assessing the causes and identifying potential solutions.”
The White House has been evasive on whether Trump would sign the background check bills, even if the Gop-controlled Senate brought up the bills and passed them.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he is considering a bipartisan bill aimed at preventing those with mental illness from gaining access to weapons.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-calif., the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, called on Graham and Republican Senate leaders to bring up her bill to ban assault weapons, legislation similar to one passed in 1993 that expired a decade later.
Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@ reviewjournal.com or 202-662-7390. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.