Senators announced a bipartisan plan Tuesday to deny gun sales to those on the FBI’s heightened screening lists, trying to carve a middle path between the extremes that have dominated the debate so far.
Those who are on either the no-fly list or the heightened screening list would be prevented from buying firearms, though they would have a chance to go to court to challenge their listing. Some 109,000 names appear on the combined no-fly and heightened screening lists, of which only about 2,700 are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents.
“All of us are united in our desire to getting something significant done on this vital issue,” said Sen. Susan Collins, who led the group of nine lawmakers — four Republicans, four Democrats and one independent — in reaching the consensus.
They’ll have to convince colleagues on both sides.
Democratic leaders want the banned list to include some million names on the Terrorist Screening Database, an FBI-maintained list of people for whom they’ve obtained some derogatory information.
Republicans leaders say that list is riddled with errors, and wanted a much smaller list. They also wanted to force the FBI to have three days to make a case against a gun purchase or else the sale would go through.