FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2013 file photo, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., right, talks with the committee's ranking Republican Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Tuesday March 12, 2013 meeting comes five days after the panel approved Congress’ first gun control measure since December’s carnage at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school that left 26 students and educators dead. That bill, by the Judiciary Committee’s chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and others, establishes long prison terms for illegal gun traffickers and straw purchasers, people who buy a firearm for criminals or others forbidden to buy one. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
News Summary: Senate panel OKs gun background bill
Published: 04:57:38 PM, Tue 12 March 2013 UTC
GUN BILL: A divided Senate Judiciary Committee approved a Democratic bill expanding required federal background checks to nearly all gun purchases, giving President Barack Obama an early victory on curbing gun violence in a fight that has long odds.
WHAT IT SAYS: The background check measure would expand the requirement to firearms sales between private individuals, such as those that occur at gun shows. Currently, the checks are required only for sales by federally licensed firearms dealers.
PARTY LINES: The vote was 10-8, with all Democrats supporting the measure and every Republican opposing it.
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