Tagged: gun laws

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is questioning whether Democrats, including Majority Leader Harry Reid, really want to see gun control legislation pass this year.

Politico reports McConnell, a Republican from Louisville, said it was "unclear yet as to whether the majority leader wants to bring a gun measure to the floor."

Reid dismissed the notion, saying a gun bill will come out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Reid wouldn't say whether or not he supports an assault weapons ban proposed by California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein.

A new Courier-Journal Bluegrass poll shows that a clear majority of Kentuckians believe the right to own guns is more important than the need for increased gun control measures. However, the same poll found small to large majorities favor individual parts of a gun control package championed by President Obama.

Of those surveyed, 65 percent said they believe guns protect law-abiding citizens more than make society more dangerous. Twenty-seven percent disagreed with that statement.

Despite the general support for Second Amendment rights, 56 percent said they favored stricter laws limiting access to firearms.

Other findings from the poll:

75 percent support background checks on gun buyers, even if the sale is between private parties.

65 percent would support a law that requires guns to be registered with the state.

53 percent support a law limiting how much ammunition can be purchased at one time.

51 percent support a limit on how much ammunition a gun can hold at once.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has released a robocall in Kentucky criticizing President Obama’s gun control proposals. In the pre-recorded call, McConnell accuses the President of trying to “restrict your constitutional right to keep and bear arms.”

The call goes on to say McConnell will do everything in his power as Senate Minority Leader to protect Second Amendment freedoms.

The robocall was first reported in the online political journal Politico.

The President announced last week a set of wide-ranging gun control proposals, including a call for Congress to improve the federal background check system used to screen gun buyers. The White House also wants a ban on military-style assault weapons and a limit on the size of gun magazines available for purchase.

The debate over gun limits and Second Amendment rights was put on the front-burner after the December school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, in which 20 children and six others were murdered.