Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., center, and Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., arrive to talk to reporters about their effort to renew the ban on plastic firearms that can evade airport detection machines, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Dec. 9, 2013.
Congress renewed an expiring ban on plastic firearms that can go undetected in metal detectors on Monday, though tougher restrictions on the guns did not pass. The Senate approved the 10-year extension, narrowly missing the midnight deadline.
Last week the House passed the measure, which is now headed to the President to be signed into law.
The bill that passed the Senate on Monday is less stringent than the one proposed by Senator Chuck Schumer, who pushed for a ban on detachable metal parts, which can be removed to pass through security screenings
The rejection of Schumer’s push by Republican lawmakers marks yet another setback for stricter gun legislation since the Dec. 14 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
[AP]