(미국) 미국공화당 상원의원들 테러리스트 총기판매 제한법안 거부

출처: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36563337

US Senate rejects terror list gun sale restrictions 미국공화당 상원의원들 테러리스트에 대한 무기판매제한 법안 거부

• 21 June 2016
 
• From the sectionUS & Canada

Image copyrightEPA

Image captionSenator Chris Murphy (centre) said Congress could not remain "this out of step" with the views and values of the American people for long 의회는 오랫동안 미국인들의 견해와 가치에서 "물러나" 있을 수 없다.

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The US Senate has rejected plans to tighten gun controls, including the restriction of weapons sales to people on terrorism watch lists. 미상원은 테러리즘 감시명단에 있는 자들에게 총기판매를 제안하는 방안을 포함한 총기규제를 강화하고자 하는 법안을 거절했다.

Four proposals were brought before the Senate after 49 people died in an attack on a gay nightclub in Florida. 49명이 플로리다 게이나이트클럽에서 발생한 범인의 공격으로 사망한 후, 4건의 법안이 상원에 상정되었다.

But Democratic and Republican senators voted along party lines, blocking each other's bills. 하지만 민주당과 공화당 소속 상원의원들은 각자 소속당의 입장을 따라 투표하므로써 서로의 법안을 방해하였다.

Senators strongly disagreed about how to prevent more attacks happening in future. 상원의원들은 미래에 일어날 수 있는 총기를 사용한 공격을 방지하는 방법을 놓고 서로간에 강하게 의견이 갈렸다.

Republican Senator John Cornyn said: "Our colleagues want to make this about gun control when what we should be making this about is the fight to eliminate the Islamic extremism that is the root cause for what happened in Orlando. 공화당 상원의원曰: 우리가 만들려고 하는 법안이 오를란도에서 발생한 사건의 근본적 원인이었던 이슬람 극단주의를 없애고자 하는 싸움이라는 확신이 들 때, 우리 동료의원들은 총기판매제한 법안을 만들고 싶은 것이다. "

"My colleagues in many ways want to treat the symptoms without fighting the disease." 많은 면에서 우리 동료의원들은 병 자체와 싸우기 보단 증상을 치료하고 싶은 것이다.

For her part, Democratic Senator Barbara Mikulski said: "Why is it we would go through such incredible scrutiny to board an airplane to protect me against terrorist, and yet we have no scrutiny of the people on the terrorist watch list to be able to buy a gun?" 민주당 상원의원曰: 우리는 테러리스트로부터 자신을 보호하기 위해 비행기에 탑승할 때 그렇게 까다로운 심사를 거쳐야 하는데도, 테러리스트에 올라 있는 사람이 총기를 구입할 수 있다는 사실에 대해선 까다로운 심사가 이뤄지고 있지 않은데, 그 이유가 대체 뭔가? 밝은 하늘: 민주당의 주장이 공화당의 주장보다 약간 나아 보이긴 하나, 여전히 근본적 대책은 될 수 없다. 근본적 대책은 개인의 총기구매 및 휴대를 금지하는 것이겠으나, 미국총기협회의 반발이 클테니, 이 또한 현실적으로 불가능해 보인다.

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Analysis - Anthony Zurcher, BBC News, Washington

Monday night's vote on stricter gun regulation was a textbook illustration of modern political dysfunction in the US Congress. 이번 총기 규정에 대한 양당의 투표는 미의회에서 현대정치의 역기능을 잘 보여주는 예라고 할 수 있다.

With the public firmly supporting legislative action, both sides of the partisan divide came up with their own bills, both sides largely voted only for their proposals, and in the end nothing was accomplished. 총기규제 법제화를 찬성하는 대중들을 등에 엎고, 양당은 각당의 법안만 챙겼기 때문에 결국엔 도출된 게 아무 것도 없었다.

Republicans accused Democrats of giving the government the power to arbitrarily prevent Americans from exercising their constitutional right to own a firearm based on a secretive "terrorist watch list" with no judicial oversight. Democrats charged Republicans with being more concerned with the support of the National Rifle Association than preventing the next gun-related massacre.

There is still the possibility of further Senate action - Susan Collins, a moderate Republican from Maine, is attempting to craft a bipartisan compromise.

But even if the Senate were to act, there are no indications that the House of Representatives - which contains conservative politicians more at risk of being unseated by a primary challenge from their right than a general-election defeat - would even take a vote on such the bill.

Unless this dynamic changes, and politicians begin to fear consequences at the November ballot box, the gun-regulation deadlock is likely to endure.

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Image copyrightREUTERS

Image captionThe killings of 49 people in Orlando prompted the Senate's gun debate

Republicans and members of the National Rifle Association (NRA) complained that the bills put forward by the Democrats violated the constitutional right to bear arms. They are concerned that without enough "due process", law-abiding Americans wrongly named on watch lists would be prevented from buying weapons. 공화당과 총기협회가 한 통속이 되어 총기판매 제한법안을 반대한 것임. 반대의 명분은 총기를 소지할 권리가 있다고 명시한 미국헌법에 위배되는 위헌이라는 점. 

Democrats said the Republican proposals were too weak.

Eight days before the Senate's vote on Monday, Omar Mateen shot 49 people dead and injured many more in the worst mass shooting in recent US history.

Mateen was a US citizen who had been known to the FBI since 2013 but was not on a terrorism watch list at the time.

In the US, gun dealers are licensed by the federal government. People can be prevented from buying weapons if they have mental health problems or are guilty of serious crimes, but there is no specific prohibition for those on the terrorism watch list. There are currently about one million people on that list.

There are other ways to buy guns - at gun shows, or from a private vendor online - that do not require any background checks.

The Senate voted down legislation that would have closed a gun show loophole and expanded background checks to cover private sales.

Also rejected were:

• A bill to ban suspects on terrorism watch lists from buying guns
• A bill (backed by the NRA) that would allow the US attorney general to delay a gun purchase by a known or suspected terrorist, but prosecutors would need to convince a judge of the would-be-buyer's connection to terrorism within three days
• A bill that would alert the FBI to terrorism suspects who have purchased a gun, without blocking the purchase outright

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US newspaper reaction

"A week after Orlando, Republicans protect terrorists' right to bear arms" says the Dana Milbank in the Washington Post. He calls it an "absurd situation" where Republican senators put the US Constitution's Second Amendment above national security concerns. He says "Monday night was the best chance yet to block would-be terrorists from getting guns, and, as before, the Republican majority chose not to act."

The New York Daily News featured a mocked-up image of a blood-soaked Capitol building. "The only thing that's changed is the body count," wrote Cameron Joseph. "It felt like Groundhog Day on Capitol Hill."

Image copyrightNEW YORK DAILY NEWS

USA Today called the vote "an extraordinary act of cowardice". The newspaper's editorial wrote: "These spineless lawmakers voted against advancing a commonsense measure. "Monday's votes showed, once again, that too many members are too cowed by the gun lobby to take the actions necessary to save lives."

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Last week one Democrat took the House floor for nearly 15 hours to demand action on gun control, after the attack on Pulse nightclub in Orlando.

Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy held the floor on Wednesday night in a "filibuster," a tactic that enables lawmakers to block proceedings.

The filibuster came to an end when Republicans eventually agreed to hold votes on measures for expanding background checks and preventing people on terrorism watch lists from obtaining guns.

After Monday's vote, Mr Murphy said the Senate's inaction had compounded the suffering of victims of gun violence.

He said: "I believe that for all of the scarring psychological harm that comes with losing a loved one or a neighbour, more harm is piled on when you find out that the people that you elected to run your country just don't care.

"It hurts something awful when you lose someone, but it gets worse when your leaders are silent, are totally silent, in the face of your personal horror."

Though partisan differences plague debate in the Republican-dominated chamber, the bills reflect a shift in American sentiment on guns.

Senator Susan Collins from Maine is working with fellow Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte on a compromise bill to prohibit the sale of guns to terrorism suspects on the no-fly list, and to create an appeals process for people who might be on the list by mistake.