(CBS) The California senator who authored the nation's now-lapsed 1994 ban on assault weapons says she will hold off trying to renew that ban.
Dianne Feinstein (D.-Calif.) tells 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl that the political timing isn't right and she will move to renew the ban at a future time of her own choosing. Feinstein appears in Stahl's report on the increase in gun sales taking place in America to be broadcast this Sunday, April 12, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
Asked by Stahl if trying to renew the assault weapons ban would start a culture war and pose a distraction for an already overburdened Obama Administration, Feinstein replies, "I agree with you." "So you are going to hold off?" asks Stahl. "That's correct. I'll pick the time and the place, no question about it," Feinstein tells Stahl.
But even if she pursued the renewal, the votes may not be there today in either the Senate or the House. Both Houses of Congress gained pro-gun Democrats this past election, some of whom won the support of the National Rifle Association. "I am not going to disagree with that at all," says Feinstein. "The National Rifle Association essentially has a stranglehold on the Congress."
Has Congressional leadership or anyone from the Obama administration influenced her decision to put off the fight for renewal of the assault weapons ban? "No. Nobody said a word to me," Feinstein tells Stahl.
Feinstein appears in Stahl's report on the increase of gun sales in America. Stahl talks to gun enthusiasts who tell her Americans are buying more guns now, in part, due to fear of impending social unrest as a result of the financial meltdown.
Philip Van Cleave, president of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, a pro-guns advocacy group, explains: "We're being told all the time that, ‘The economy could just collapse and we could fall into chaos.’ Well, chaos is a good reason to be able to protect yourself… You could imagine if we truly had a collapse of the economy and it was hard to find food, those that did manage to hang onto food-might…find themselves in a precarious position.'" Van Cleave tells Stahl the other main reason is fear of potential gun control under new President Barack Obama.
