John McCain

GOA Vote Report For Sen. John McCain — 106th Congress

Written by admin Published: 08 January 2009

  1. Ending the Smith filibuster. On July 28, the Senate ended a filibuster led by Senator Bob Smith (I-NH) — a filibuster intended to keep anti-gun crime legislation from progressing any further. After the 77-22 vote, the Senate moved to send the language of the anti-gun Senate crime bill (S. 254) to a House-Senate conference committee. A vote against ending the filibuster is rated as a “+”.
  2. Anti-gun juvenile crime bill. The Senate passed the gun control laden juvenile crime bill by a 73-25 vote on May 20, 1999. Besides the several provisions related to punishing juveniles who commit crimes, S. 254 contained several gun control amendments (see vote numbers 115, 116, 118, 122, 133 and 134 for details on these anti-gun provisions). [NOTE: On vote #118, all language pertaining to background registration checks at gun shows was superceded by the Lautenberg amendment in vote number 134.] A vote against S. 254 is rated as a “+”.
  3. Banning private sales of firearms at gun shows. After a series of votes on provisions relating to gun shows, this amendment offered by Sen. Lautenberg of New Jersey gained the ascendancy. This amendment would ban private sales at gun shows– sales between two PRIVATE individuals– unless the buyer first submits to a background registration check. (Private firearms sales must be routed through a licensed dealer, and the purchase of more than one handgun by an individual will result in that information being sent to the BATF.) Even displaying a firearm at a gun show, and subsequently transferring that gun to a non-licensee (if it is displayed with a notice that it is for sale), will result in a two-year prison sentence– five years for the second violation. This amendment would also impose a series of restrictions and requirements upon gun show promoters. Finally, this provision grants BATF open-ended inspection authority to harass vendors at gun shows, and explicitly gives BATF the right to keep a gun owner registration list for up to 90 days. On May 20, 1999, this amendment passed 51-50, with Vice President Al Gore breaking the tie. A vote against this amendment is rated as a “+”.
  4. Background registration checks. On May 20, 1999, Republican Senators Gordon Smith (OR) and James Jeffords (VT) offered up more restrictions on the sale of firearms. Their amendment subjects pawn shop and repair shop transactions to the same registration and background check requirements as purchases from dealers. A vote against the amendment, which passed 79-21, is rated as a “+”.
  5. Hatch-Kohl. On May 18, 1999, the Senate passed an amendment introduced by Senators Orrin Hatch (R) and Herb Kohl (D). This amendment forces gun sellers to include trigger locks with every handgun sold. A vote against the amendment is rated as a “+”.
  6. Internet firearms sales. On May 14, 1999, the Senate tabled (or defeated) an amendment introduced by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) that would regulate the transfer of firearms over the Internet. The Senate voted to kill the amendment 50-43. A vote to table the amendment is rated a “+”.
  7. Hatch-Craig Gun Control. On May 14, 1999, the Senate passed the Hatch-Craig gun control amendment by a 48-47 vote. [NOTE: Many anti-gun Senators voted against this amendment because they favored more stringent gun controls which would later be offered by Sen. Lautenberg.] The Hatch-Craig amendment would impose several 2nd Amendment restrictions. It would ban ANY private sale at a gun show that does not first go through a background registration check. In addition, the Hatch-Craig amendment would assign one U.S. attorney in every district exclusively to harass gun owners. And of the $50,000,000 allocated towards this purpose, a full $40 million of it will go to increasing the presence of the BATF– not to investigate murders, violent felonies, or crimes of violence, but to pursue “firearms” offenses (most of which will be recordkeeping and other innocuous errors by law-abiding Americans). The Hatch-Craig provision would also impose a lifetime gun ban for juveniles committing youthful indiscretions at a very young age; extend the arcane and confusing juvenile handgun ban to semi-autos; and increase penalties for violating the almost incomprehensible regulations governing the circumstances under which one may legally take one’ssss child hunting or target shooting with a handgun or semi-auto. A vote against the Hatch-Craig amendment is rated as a “+”.
  8. Defeating Hatch-Craig Gun Control. On May 13, 1999, a majority of Senators defeated a motion to table (or kill) an anti-gun amendment introduced by Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Larry Craig (R-UT). This amendment was offered as an alternative to gun control proposals being pushed by Sen. Frank Lautenberg. [For specifics of the amendment, see vote # 118.] The amendment survived 94-3. A vote to table (or kill) the amendment is rated as a “+”.
  9. Defeating a medium-capacity magazine ban. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) pushed an amendment through the Senate on May 13, 1999. The provision would ban the importation of any magazine that can hold over 10 rounds– no matter when the magazine was manufactured. The Senate passed the amendment on a voice vote after Senator Bob Smith (R-NH) put forth a motion to table (or kill) the amendment. His attempt to stop the amendment failed by a vote of 59-39. A vote to support Sen. Smith in tabling (or killing) the amendment is rated as a “+”.
  10. Young adult gun ban. This ban could severely punish parents who allow their kids to even touch a so-called semi-automatic “assault weapon.” While the amendment allows for certain exemptions, there are some imponderable questions which NO senator could answer, but which a parent would have to answer in order to avoid incarceration. For example: What is a “semiautomatic assault weapon”? The definition, plus exemptions, takes up six pages of fine print in the U.S. Code. Second, a child can handle a banned semi-auto if he is in the “immediate and supervisory presence” of a parent or if he possess a written permission slip from the parent. But what happens when, during a target practice session, the parent walks to the car to retrieve his lunch and the juvenile is no longer in the parent’sss “immediate” presence and does not have a permission slip? A parent can receive jail time for this infraction. The Senate passed this amendment, which was introduced by Senator John Ashcroft (R-MO), by a 96-2 vote on May 13, 1999. A vote against this provision is rated as a “+”.
  11. Stopping the gun show ban. On May 12, 1999, the Senate tabled (defeated) an amendment introduced by anti-gun Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) on a vote of 51-47. The provision would have banned the private sales of firearms at gun shows unless buyers submitted to background registration checks. Draconian restrictions would have also been imposed on gun show promoters. A vote to defeat (table) the Lautenberg amendment is rated as a “+”. Praising Gun Control Moms On May 17, 2000 Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD) offered a resolution praising the marchers at the so-called Million Mom March, and calling on Congress to pass the anti-gun juvenile crime bill by Memorial Day. The non-binding resolution narrowly passed 50-49. A vote against the amendment is rated as a “+”.
  12. Non-binding Senate instructions. On Thursday, April 6, 2000, the Senate attached a non-binding gun amendment to the budget bill for 2001. The Senate voted 53-47 in favor of an amendment offered by Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI)– a non-binding provision that asks the House-Senate conferees to get the juvenile anti-gun bill to the floor of each house by April 20. A vote against the amendment is rated as a “+”.
  13. Non-binding Senate instructions. On March 1, 2000, Sen. Barbara Boxer failed in her attempt to instruct House-Senate conferees to finish its work on the anti-gun juvenile crime bill. After attacking Gun Owners of America for its refusal to compromise and for opposing firearms restrictions, Boxer saw her non-binding resolution fail on a 49-49 tie. A vote against the Boxer amendment (to S. 1134) is rated as a “+”.
  14. Sink the gun makers. On February 2, 2000, Senators Carl Levin (D-MI) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) offered an anti-gun amendment to S. 625 in an effort to help the cities bringing frivolous suits against gun makers. Specifically, the Levin amendment prevents gun makers from declaring legitimate bankruptcy, and thus, discharging any enormous judgments that result from frivolous lawsuits. A vote against the amendment, which failed 68-29, is rated as a “+”.

KEY: + Pro-gun,  – Anti-gun,  NV Not voting

                                1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9  10  11  12  13  14  15     MCCAIN (R-AZ)                -   NV  +   -   -   -   -   -   +  -   +   +   -   NV  NV