A bill cracking down on illegal gun trafficking and straw purchases of firearms was approved Thursday by Senate Judiciary Committee, becoming the first piece of gun control measures championed by the Obama administration to advance in the U.S. Congress.
The bill was approved in an 11-7 vote largely along party lines. Charles Grassley of Iowa was the only Republican senator to support the measure. The bill, called the Stop Illegal Trafficking in Firearms Act, is sponsored by committee chairman Patrick Leahy. It would create a criminal statute that specifically prohibits firearms trafficking and straw purchases, increasing jail terms to a maximum of 25 years.
The illegal tracking bill is the first of four gun control bills under consideration by the committee, and with stubborn opposition to legislations that seek to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines sales, and expand background checks on gun buyers, local media outlets speculate the trafficking bill has the best chance of passing Congress.
Colin Goddard, a survivor of the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre, said he is "very happy with the outcome of the vote today," as the Congress is finally taking the first step in establishing federal regulation on gun trafficking.