Concord
The proposal comes in the wake of the Orlando, Fla., mass shooting, and a day after a divided U.S. Senate blocked several partisan efforts meant to curb firearm sales to terrorists.
“This is a common sense, bipartisan proposal,” Ayotte said at a news conference in Washington. “No fly, no buy.”
Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins is spearheading the “Terrorist Firearms Prevention Act of 2016,” which has drawn support from Democrats and Republicans. It restricts gun sales to the estimated 109,000 people on federal no-fly and selectee lists, most of whom are foreign nationals, Collins said. People on the selectee list face higher screening at airports, but still are able to fly.
Ayotte is facing a competitive reelection bid against Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan, and gun rights are poised to play a major role in the race. The first-term Republican came under fire this week for a vote against expanding background checks for sales at gun shows and over the internet.
New Hampshire Democrats on Tuesday accused Ayotte of backing the compromise deal for political gain.
“Despite her political maneuvering, it’s clear that Ayotte can’t be trusted to put the safety and security of the people of New Hampshire ahead of the gun lobby,” Hassan campaign manager Marc Goldberg said.
Ayotte also faced heat from the right, after Republican primary challenger Jim Rubens said her recent gun stances have been “setting off alarm bells among second amendment defenders.”
Ayotte’s campaign spokeswoman Liz Johnson said Hassan’s attacks show she’s “not serious about actually solving this problem.”
“Hassan should get behind Kelly’s effort to bring people together on a solution that can actually pass the Senate and make our country safer,” Johnson said in a statement.
Under the proposal, Americans or green card holders on the no-fly and selectee lists would be able to appeal in court a gun purchase denial and recover attorney fees if they prevail.
The measure also requires FBI notification when a person who appeared on the terror watch list within the last five years buys a gun, according to a fact sheet.
Supporters include Democrat Sens. Tim Kaine, of Virginia; and Heidi Heitkamp, of North Dakota, Independent Sen. Angus King, of Maine, and Republican Sens. Jeff Flake, of Arizona; and Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina.
Democrat Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire’s senior senator, was not at the news conference and has not put out a statement indicating whether she supports or opposes the proposal.
Collins said it could come up for a vote within the next few weeks.
“Our goal is simple and straightforward: we want to make America safer,” Collins said. “If you are too dangerous to fly on an airplane, you are too dangerous to buy a gun.”
Kaine said passing the measure would give the U.S. Senate more leverage to expand background checks for more gun sales, a effort that generally has been opposed by Republicans.
“These terrorists can still buy weapons if we don’t have a good background check system,” he said.
The push in Congress to ban firearm sales to terrorists comes less than two weeks after gunman Omar Mateen attacked a nightclub in Orlando, killing 49 people. Mateen, who identified himself as an Islamic soldier, had been the focus of two terror investigations that later were dropped, according to the FBI.
The U.S. Senate on Monday blocked four gun measures largely along partisan lines.
Ayotte backed both proposals to curb firearm sales to suspected terrorists, a shift from last December, when she joined most Senate Republicans to block a similar Democratic proposal.
An amendment proposed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, would have prohibited people on federal terrorist watch lists from buying guns. One proposal, submitted by Republican Sen. John Cornyn, of Texas, would have let the government delay gun sales to known or suspected terrorist for 72 hours while it investigated.
Ayotte said she found flaws with each proposal, but voted for both to “move debate forward.” She advocated for the no-fly list measure on the Senate floor, saying its a compromise that can pass the chamber and put an end to politics surrounding the issue.
Shaheen voted for the Feinstein amendment, but against the Cornyn amendment.
“After Aurora, Newtown, Charleston, San Bernardino, and so many other mass shootings, the Senate failed to act to protect Americans from gun violence,” Shaheen said in a statement after the votes. “It’s shameful that in the wake of the deadliest shooting in our nation’s history in Orlando, the Senate still can’t take modest action to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists and tighten background checks.”