The U.S. Senate renewed a 10-year extension of a law prohibiting guns made out of plastic that can slip past metal detectors and X-ray machines, according to a report by the Associated Press.
Congress voted Monday, December 9, to renew its ban of plastic firearms, but Republicans blocked an attempt to toughen restrictions. Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, tried to strengthen the ban pointing out that plastic firearms contain undetachable metal parts. He argued that such parts can be removed when going past metal detectors and X-ray machines, which can be slipped past security machines.
"Who in God's name wants to let plastic guns pass through metal detectors at airports or stadiums?" Schumer told the Associated Press in an interview last Monday.
The renewal of plastic firearms prohibition is the latest defeat of pro-guns since the Newton, Connecticut grade school massacre.
The National Rifle Association, the instrumental group responsible for blocking gun restrictions, was silent about the law's renewal, save the statement it gave that it would it would fight anything "that would infringe on our Second Amendment rights" to bear arms, the report said.
The votes in Congress were cast verbally, which highlight the sensitivity of the issue. The individual votes were not recorded signaling how difficult the voting process went considering that a handful of Democratic senators are seeking re-election in GOP-leaning states.
Since December 14, 2012, the day when 20 first-graders and six staff members of Sand Hook Elementary School died at gunpoint, gun-control advocates have experienced repeated setbacks. Gun-control advocates remain unable to push new gun restrictions in Congress.
"We're several decades behind the NRA, Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, told the Associated Press. "This is a long game, and it's going to take us some time to build up the resources necessary to compete."
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