Schumer touts gun control legislation

Mandatory background checks would help keep guns out of the hands of people like the accused Tucson, Ariz., shooter, said Sen. Charles Schumer, who Wednesday introduced legislation to strengthen gun control laws.

Schumer's proposal would punish states that don't report criminals, drug abusers and those with mental illnesses - groups already prohibited from buying guns - to a national database. It also would mandate checks by private gun dealers, closing a loophole that now makes it easy for anyone to purchase firearms at gun shows.

Jared Lee Loughner, charged in the January Arizona shooting spree that killed six and critically injured Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, was a drug abuser who should have been blacklisted, Schumer (D-N.Y.) said.

He was joined at a news conference Wednesday by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly. Schumer said he wants states notorious for failing to meet thresholds for reporting people to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System - including Virginia, where 32 were killed at the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007 - to lose justice assistance grant funding.

Bloomberg, part of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns campaign, said his group would do anything necessary to help the legislation pass.

Schumer's legislation should be introduced to Congress within days, his spokesman said. Schumer acknowledged that passing it may not be easy with a Republican-controlled House and powerful lobbies such as the National Rifle Association.

Rachel Parsons, an NRA spokeswoman, said her group can't comment until the legislation is final, but added that Schumer and Bloomberg are "grandstanding in front of the media."