As some states tighten gun controls, passage of most new federal gun laws looks increasingly iffy

Team 26 on its March 9-12 right to Washington,
 highlight the slaughter of 26 students and educators
 in Newtown, Connecticut, to boost support for
gun-control laws. Read more details here. According to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, at the state level there are more than 600 proposals for laws that would add new gun-control restrictions to the books. And some 540 that would broaden gun rights. All are working their way through whatever process each state has, and most of them will never actually become law. You can compare your state's existing laws with other states' here.

Two states, New York and Colorado, have recently passed stricter new laws.

The New York law bans assault weapons and limits the capacity of gun magazines. The Colorado laws limit magazine capacity, bar from gun ownership people who have been convicted of certain domestic violence crimes, require anyone seeking a permit to carry a concealed firearm to get in-person training instead of merely watched a video and extends required background checks to all private sales. Gun purchasers will also be required to pay a small fee for their background check. Maryland is considering a proposal from Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley that would impose an assault weapons ban and magazine-capacity limit.

Meanwhile, nearly three months after the Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school slaughter, only one federal measure has been voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. It would stiffen penalties for individuals who make "straw purchases" for individuals prohibited from owning firearms. The committee will continue its review of gun-control proposals Tuesday.

On the docket is a bill from Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California to reinstate an assault weapons ban and limit on the capacity of gun magazines. The previous ban expired after 10 years in 2004. Although the ban will almost certainly be approved by committee, many people in the know do not think it will pass the full Senate. That's not just because of the expected opposition from Republicans but also because many Democrats, particularly in Western states, don't think much of the idea. House Speaker John Boehner has indicated that anything that doesn't get passed in the Senate won't even be considered in the House.

Even a proposal that clearly has the most support among Americans, a background check of anyone who purchases a firearm from any source, may be in trouble. Negotiations in an ad hoc group of two Democratic and two Republican senators collapsed last week because Sen. Tom Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, refused to sign off on any bill that included a requirement for records to be kept.

Currently, only people who buy their guns from a federally licensed dealer are covered by mandated background checks. Dealers must keep records of their gun sales for 20 years but there are no federal records. Backers of extending background checks to all private sales want someone to keep records of those sales, too. But that's where Coburn wouldn't budge. One approach, requiring all private sales to be handled through a licensed dealer for a fee, would solve the records problem with minimal fuss. Please continue reading about the difficulties of getting gun-control legislation passed below the fold.