Lee Wants Supermajority to Approve New Gun Measures

Roll Call got their hands on a copy of Lee’s proposal, which would require a 67-vote threshhold to approve a number of measures.

The amendment, for example, seeks to require the supermajority for any bill that “prohibits specific firearms or categories or firearms” or “limits the size of ammunition feeding devices,” an apparent reference to the assault weapons ban (S 150) sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.

It would also require a supermajority for any bill that “requires background checks through a federal firearms licensee for private transfers of firearms,” a reference to a proposal (S 374) by Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., that has been the subject of weeks of bipartisan negotiations and also will be included in the April floor debate.

Lee’s amendment is highly unlikely to succeed in the Democratic-led Senate, but one gun-rights group praised it on Friday.

“We would prefer to prohibit any and all gun control, even if it had 100 votes,” Gun Owners of America said in an email to supporters. “But if the Lee amendment is passed, the practical effect will be that gun control can never again pass the Senate.”