ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, November 18, 1993                   TAG: 9311180104
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

SENATE OKS CURBS ON ASSAULT WEAPONS

The Senate voted Wednesday to ban further production of semiautomatic assault weapons most frequently used in violent crime as it neared approval of the most costly anti-crime bill in the nation's history.

But the Senate stalled short of final action on the five-year, $22 billion measure as Republicans plotted strategy on how far to go in attempting to scale back, delay or kill a proposal to impose a nationwide five-day waiting period for the purchase of handguns.

The Republican maneuvering dimmed - but did not doom - prospects that Congress could finish action before adjournment this year on the Brady bill, the waiting-period proposal named after former White House Press Secretary James Brady, who was wounded in the 1981 attack on President Reagan.

The broader anti-crime bill, which seeks to build new prisons, put more police on the streets and toughen federal penalties for violent crime, is not likely to be enacted until next year, according to leaders in both houses. The Senate is planning a final vote on it this morning.

Sponsors of the assault-weapons curb - stronger than any previous restrictions imposed on the especially lethal, military-style guns - hailed the proposal as a major breakthrough in the fight against mounting firearms violence.

"You've done the nation proud. . . . America's love affair with guns is coming to an end," Attorney General Janet Reno said after the 56-43 vote to approve the assault-weapons restrictions that were shepherded through the Senate by freshman Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

Virginia's senators were split on the assault-weapons restrictions, with Democrat Charles Robb voting for them and Republican John Warner voting against.

The assault-weapons curbs face an uphill fight in the House, according to leading supporters there. And it was not immediately clear whether the handgun waiting period, which was approved earlier this month by the House, could pass in the Senate without crippling amendments or without the 60 votes necessary to head off a filibuster.

The National Rifle Association opposed the curbs on assault weapons but supports one of the major Brady bill alternatives under study by Republicans, which would impose a national waiting period but at the same time wipe out more restrictive delays now imposed by many state and local governments. The Brady bill does not repeal stricter state and local requirements. 


 by CNB