Sen. Tim Kaine said Wednesday that he’s signed on to the ban on assault weapons, but it has yet to gain wide support in the Senate.
“I’m a gun owner and a Second Amendment supporter, but I support reinstating … the ban on assault weapons we had in place in the ’90s,” Mr. Kaine, Virginia Democrat, said on CNN.
He said he would also like to see background checks on all sales, including gun shows, and a assault weapons ban, which expired in the early 2000s. The bill bans all “military style” and “high-capacity” ammunition weapons. Current owners of such style firearms would be allowed to keep them.
The *bill was first introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein in November after the Las Vegas shooting. Mr. Kaine co-sponsored the bill along with over a dozen other Democrats.
Gun control has taken on renewed prominence after a shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, left 17 people dead two weeks ago. Students, who have taken on an activist role on the issue, return to classes Wednesday for the first time since the tragedy.
* (Editor’s note: This article has been updated to clarify that the bill was first introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein.)
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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