Specter, Schumer call for gun law reform

In the wake of the shooting massacre at Virginia Tech, Sens. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Sunday that federal gun control laws should be changed to increase coordination between state and federal databases to prevent the sale of guns to those with mental health problems.

Specter said on Fox News Sunday that, had there been better coordination between state and federal background repositories, a student with the mental health problems that Virginia Tech Seung-Hui Cho suffered from would not have been able to legally purchase guns.

{mosads}“There was a definite failure of communication [between state and federal databases],” Specter said, “And that ought to be changed with federal legislation.”

“The state law ought to be in conformity with national law,” he added. “There appeared to be enough information on Cho to put him in a national registry. There is not coordination between the state and the federal government. Had that information been in a national registry then I think some action could have been taken in a preventative way.”

Schumer agreed with Specter and remarked that he will introduce legislation this week to require state databases to be update and coordinated with federal repositories. He also said that Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.) will introduce companion legislation in the House.

Schumer said he believes “this legislation has a real chance of passing.”

When asked why the Democrats would not press for the renewal of the assault weapon ban, which lapsed three years ago, Schumer said he did not believe the Democrats had the 60 votes necessary to overcome a filibuster in the Senate.        

However, he said, “smaller, but really serious pieces of legislation,” like the one he plans to introduce this week, “have a very good chance of passing.”