Brady group puts assault weapons ban at bottom of agenda

An assault weapons ban is the last of a series of recommendation the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence gave to the White House Friday.

Congressional approval of such a ban is expected to be difficult to obtain, and the anti-gun group declined to expand on its recommendations.

Its list to the White House panel headed by Vice President Joe Biden led off with a call for strengthened background checks for all gun buyers and updated and comprehensive mental health records with “an improved ability to identify dangerous people who present the most risk, especially among the mentally ill.”

The Brady Campaign also asked for a gun ban on “other dangerous people who are currently not prohibited from purchasing firearms.” Those include terrorists, those convicted of violent misdemeanors, violent juvenile offenders and some substance abusers.

Also on the group’s wish list are proposals that would limit the number of guns an individual could buy in a certain period of time and that would make gun trafficking a federal offense. It recommended closing “legal loopholes” that hinder lawsuits against gun manufacturers.

Finally, the Brady Campaign recommended restrictions on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.

Biden on Thursday announced he will recommend new gun control measures to President Obama next week. He suggested that those recommendations would include more comprehensive background checks on gun buyers and limits on the sizes of ammunition magazines. But one proposal was notably missing: a ban on assault weapons.

On Friday afternoon, both Connecticut senators minimized the importance of vice president’s statement.

“You know, what really matters is what the administration does,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, “I am very firmly convinced that the president and vice president are committed to this cause.”

Sen. Chris Murphy echoed the sentiment: “[President] Obama and Biden are fully behind the assault weapons ban.”