Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Monday described her push to pass an assault-weapons ban in the next Congress as an "uphill road."
In the wake of a shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut that claimed the lives of 27, including 20 children, Feinstein has vowed to introduce legislation reinstating a federal ban on assault weapons. Feinstein was a major proponent of similar legislation in 1994.
"Well, I have every sense that it's an uphill road, it was in the past when we did it in the past," Feinstein said in an interview with "PBS Newshour." "I wrote that bill. My office wrote that bill. It went through, it was not amended. It went through the Senate, the House, it was signed by the president and it was the law for ten years."
Since the Sandy Hook shooting, a number of lawmakers, including a few Senate Democrats with "A" ratings from the National Rifle Association, have called for action to strengthen gun laws to prevent massacres similar to Sandy Hook. Feinstein said that the recent shooting was a tipping point for pushing new gun legislation.
"I think this is the straw that broke the camel's back," Feinstein said. "I don't see how Americans can want a situation where a 20-year-old gets a gun from his mother, kills his mother."
The California Democrat said she plans to talk with Republicans about passing the legislation and has also been trying to reach President Obama by phone. She said Obama has not returned her call and she is now hoping to get in touch with Obama through Chief of Staff Jack Lew.
