The Senate Judiciary Committee passed two measures Tuesday designed to curb gun violence, and the bills are headed to the Senate floor for a full vote, The New York Times reports.
The committee postponed a vote on the most contentious measures – a proposed reinstatement of the assault weapons ban.
The first measure approved would expand background checks to private gun sales, but no Republican on the committee voted for its passage. However, the bill offered by Senator Barbara Boxer of California was supported by both sides. Her measure would renew a grant program to help schools improve their security procedures for a 10-year period, and it would increase the financing to $40 million per year from $30 million, the Times reports.
The measure also creates a Department of Justice and Department of Education task force to develop advisory school safety guidelines, passing the committee 14 to 4.
Last week, the committee approved a measure that would make the practice of illegally buying a gun for someone else – a straw purchase – into a felony, increasing the penalties for the crime, according to the Times article.