Gun debate puts Gillibrand in tough spot

Attorney General Eric Holder’s push for the renewal of the assault weapons ban has put Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) between a rock and a hard place.
    
Gillibrand, who faces a possible primary fight from Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), had a 100 percent approval rating from the National Rifle Association (NRA) before her appointment this year to replace now-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
    
{mosads}Responding to questions from reporters on Wednesday, Holder noted that the Obama administration supports the idea of reinstating the 1994 assault weapons ban, a position McCarthy said “thrilled” her. McCarthy’s congressional career was launched after her husband was killed in a 1993 shooting on the Long Island Rail Road.

Any vote in the Senate on the ban could be used as political ammunition against Gillibrand in 2010. If she supports the ban, Gillibrand — who used to represent a conservative-leaning House district — could be portrayed as a flip-flopper. If she rejects it, her vote would be at odds with many of her constituents.

On Thursday, Gillibrand voted against a gun rights amendment relating to firearms in the nation’s capital. The amendment passed, 62-36, and is now attached to the D.C. voting rights bill. That vote is an about-face from the position Gillibrand took in the House, when she backed a 2007 bill introduced by Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.) that sought to”restore Second Amendment rights in the District of Columbia.”

Holder’s comment caught congressional Democrats off guard, including Gillibrand, who on Thursday referred questions to her staff. The senator’s office would not answer whether she would vote to reinstate the gun ban that expired in 2004.

“She is focused on working with gun control advocates, Congresswoman McCarthy and the Obama administration on anti-trafficking legislation that will help law enforcement get illegal guns off the street,” said communications director Matt Canter.
    
Gillibrand signed a letter Wednesday to Holder to ask for the attorney general’s support in repealing the Tiahrt Amendment. Named for Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), the 2003 provision restricts the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms from sharing gun-tracing information with local law enforcement agencies.

McCarthy also signed the letter, which she posted on her House website.

Gillibrand also met with gun violence victims at a Brooklyn high school on Feb. 9, saying she “cares deeply” about gun deaths, and subsequently introduced anti-gun-trafficking legislation.

A recent poll showed McCarthy beating her by 10 points in a hypothetical primary match-up, 34-24.

The gun ban appears doomed in the Senate.
    
“Even in this new Senate, it’s a tough row to hoe,” said Gillibrand’s colleague, New York senior Sen. Charles Schumer (D).

Underscoring that comment was the reluctance of several Democrats to endorse the idea of reviving the ban. Sens. Evan Bayh (Ind.), Mark Pryor (Ark.), Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.) and Jim Webb (Va.) all declined to answer, saying they wanted to see specifics first.

Even more troubling for the ban’s prospects: Democrats Jon Tester (Mont.) and Mark Warner (Va.) said they oppose it outright, meaning Democratic leaders would need at least several crossover votes from the GOP.

“It’s baloney,” Tester said of the ban.
    
“I have generally thought we ought to enforce our existing laws and we should not be adding new ones,” said Warner.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) indicated on Thursday that she will not call for a vote on the ban.
        
But several Democrats said they are eager for the fight. A member of Pelosi’s own state delegation, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), one of the ban’s original authors, gave a fiery floor speech Thursday saying she was “prepared to wage this battle again, and I intend to do so.”

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), a decorated Vietnam War veteran and the party’s 2004 presidential candidate, also called the ban “good policy.”

“Nobody should be selling weapons of war in the streets of our country. It’ll be a tough vote, but it’s the right policy,” Kerry said. “I’m a hunter, I believe in the Second Amendment, and I don’t foresee any efforts to curtail anybody’s rights. But assault weapons? If people want to use them, join the military.”

Republicans, for their part, seemed eager for the debate as well.

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) even reacted with a laugh when told of plans to reintroduce the ban, saying Democratic leaders should reconsider.

“I would fight that with everything I’ve got,” Hatch said. “The Democrats have a lot of votes, but they’ve got to be very careful because they got their heads handed to them last time this issue came up. They were very cocky about voting for it, and they learned a big lesson.”

Likewise, National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn of Texas also predicted “a good debate.” Cornyn said Holder “has a long history of denying the rights of law-abiding citizens to own guns.”

“Law-abiding citizens are no threat to public safety,” Cornyn said. “He’s trying to deny law-abiding citizens the right to bear arms.”

This article was updated at 9:11 a.m.