Judiciary chairman rejects Dems' call for imminent gun-safety hearings

The GOP chairman of the House Judiciary Committee has rejected a Democratic request to schedule public hearings on gun safety in the wake of this month's attempted assassination of an Arizona congresswoman.

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said Friday that, while the Judiciary panel should appraise the federal system designed to block gun sales to the mentally ill and other prohibited buyers, holding public hearings now could undermine the prosecution of the alleged Arizona shooter, Jared Lee Loughner.

“The Judiciary Committee should, at the appropriate time, undertake a review of the [National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)] as a part of our oversight of Justice Department programs,” Smith said Friday in an e-mail.  

“But to undertake such a review in the context of the tragic shooting in Arizona, as the minority suggests, could have the unintended effect of prejudicing the ongoing criminal proceedings against Loughner in which his mental status is likely to be a key issue.”

On Thursday, Rep. John Conyers Jr. (Mich.), the senior Democrat on Judiciary, said the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D) and 18 others in Tucson makes it “imperative” that lawmakers revisit the nation’s gun laws in an effort to prevent similar tragedies in the future. In a Jan. 27 letter, Conyers urged Smith to stage gun-safety hearings in response to the rampage.

“We fully recognize and appreciate the sensitivity of the subjects raised by the recent tragedy in Tucson in which our colleague, Gabrielle Giffords, was shot and eighteen others were wounded or killed,” the Democrats wrote. “However, we also believe it is not only possible, but imperative that Congress review the relevant issues in a civil and objective [manner].”

Smith’s office had arranged a closed-door, bipartisan staff briefing with the FBI this week to examine the effectiveness of NICS. That gathering was postponed on Thursday due to snowfall in Washington, but is being rescheduled for a later date.

But the Texas Republican said a public examination of NICS is “inappropriate” so soon after the Tucson shooting.

“Jared Loughner has not been found to be mentally ill,” Smith said Friday. “It is inappropriate for Congress to hold hearings on NICS that presume otherwise while Loughner is facing trial.”

Every Democrat on Judiciary endorsed the Conyers letter, including Reps. Howard Berman (Calif.), Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), Robert "Bobby" Scott (Va.), Mel Watt (N.C.), Zoe Lofgren (Calif.), Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas), Maxine Waters (Calif.), Steve Cohen (Tenn.), Hank Johnson (Ga.), Mike Quigley (Ill.), Judy Chu (Calif.), Ted Deutch (Fla.), Linda Sanchez (Calif.) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.) and Puerto Rican Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi.

The Democrats noted that the Judiciary Committee has a history of examining the nation’s weapons laws following similar high-profile domestic attacks, including the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, the 1999 Columbine High School shooting and the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre.

Specifically, they want the panel to focus on how effectively NICS has kept guns from the hands of the mentally ill, felons, drug abusers and others barred from buying or possessing firearms. Loughner was never diagnosed with a mental disorder, but his erratic behavior sounded enough alarms that he was expelled from a local community college, and a history of illicit drug use blocked his effort to join the military. Despite the red flags, the 22-year-old was able to pass an NICS background check and purchase a firearm from a local licensed gun dealer.

A 2008 law, passed in the wake of the Virginia Tech shooting, provided financial incentives for states to report cases of mental illness to NICS, but the system remains largely voluntary. New hearings, the Democrats wrote, could determine “whether regulatory or legislative modifications are needed to insure [sic] that appropriate records are included in the NICS database.”

The Democrats also want Judiciary to examine the current law allowing purchase of high-capacity ammunition magazines, like those allegedly used by Loughner. A ban on such magazines expired in 2004, leading Democrats in both chambers to call for its renewal following the Giffords shooting.

Smith’s comments will be a disappointment for gun-control advocates, who wasted no time Friday applauding the Democrats’ call for urgent hearings.

“Now is the time for action,” Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign, said in a statement. “It’s the right thing to do for our nation, and for the way too many families and communities that suffer from gun violence."

“Chairman Smith has a real opportunity to make a difference here,” added Josh Horwitz, head of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. “Once Congress realizes that this is not a left/right issue but a right/wrong issue, maybe we can usher some sanity back into the debate about our nation’s broken gun laws.”

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