More National/World

• Congressman is indicted
• Series of attacks target Green Zone
• Iran is defying U.N., agency says

MOST RECENT TRIB STORIES

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
  08:48 a.m., February 25, 2008
• Congressman is indicted
  08:37 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Series of attacks target Green Zone
  08:36 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Iran is defying U.N., agency says
  08:35 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Waterboarding approval probed
  08:34 a.m., February 23, 2008

TRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*

• Ty Murray Invitational thrills fans in Albuquerque
• Albuquerque Old Town
• Is Rome Burning?
• Ominous Skies
• The Road to Invalidation

*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

WASHINGTON — Gun-control advocates made little headway after another bloody April shootout eight years ago and acknowledged today they face similarly tough odds in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings.

"It is a tough sell," said Democratic Rep. Carolyn McCarthy of New York, the House's most ardent proponent of gun-control legislation. McCarthy was elected to Congress on a gun-control platform in 1996, three years after her husband was killed and her son seriously injured by a shooter on a Long Island commuter train.

In 1999, after the Columbine High School killings in Colorado left 15 dead, including the two shooters, lawmakers unsuccessfully introduced dozens of bills to require mandatory child-safety locks on new handguns, ban "Saturday night specials," increase the minimum age for gun purchases and require background checks on weapons bought at gun shows.

A month after the Columbine shootings, then Vice President Al Gore cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate to advance a juvenile crime bill that included gun-show restrictions. But the bill died after a year of on-and-off negotiations with the House, where gun-rights lawmakers held sway.

Gun control became an issue in the 2000 election and many political analysts say Gore, assailed by the National Rifle Association for supporting gun control, lost critical votes in rural states where voters are strong supporters of gun rights.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat who sponsored the 1994 federal assault weapons ban that Congress allowed to expire in 2004, said in a statement she believed the killings at Virginia Tech would "re-ignite the dormant effort to pass common-sense gun regulations in this nation."

But while Democrats now control the Congress, many of its new members are gun-rights supporters from rural states.

McCarthy said she is trying to promote legislation that will be acceptable to gun-rights people, including a bill that would require instant background checks for gun purchases rather than making buyers wait a day or more.