Kennedy: Senator Holding Plastic Gun Bill
WASHINGTON (AP)--A bill to ban plastic guns which terrorists could slip past airport metal detectors has been blocked in the Senate by an anonymous GOP senator, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. said Tuesday.
``That's unacceptable, and the Senate leadership has a responsibility to act,'' Kennedy said. ``The need for action before Congress adjourns is obvious. An undetectable Republican senator cannot be permitted to embarrass the entire Senate by blocking action'' on the bill.
Under Senate rules, any senator can stop a bill from being approved by placing a ``hold'' on the legislation without their name revealed.
Lawmakers want to reauthorize the Terrorist Firearm Detection Act of 1988, which bans the creation or possession of plastic firearms. Military and intelligence agencies are exempt.
Officials worry terrorists would get their hands on plastic weapons that wouldn't set off metal detectors at airports and other security checkpoints.
The bill was last reauthorized in 1998. It expires in December.
The House already passed the bill, and has been pushing the Senate to act.
``Unfortunately, to this point, while the House has acted, the Senate has offered only rhetoric and no action,'' House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., wrote in a letter to Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.