US assault rifle ban splits parties A proposal to ban assault weapons such as the type used in the Newtown school slaughter won approval from a key Senate panel on Thursday, but looks certain to fail when it reaches the full chamber. The Democrats on the committee used their majority to pass the measure 10-8 along party lines, with all Republicans on the judiciary committee objecting to the ban, which they say would infringe the US constitutional right to bear arms. The split augurs badly for the bill - sponsored by Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat - in the full Senate, where all Republicans and some Democrats have vowed to oppose it. Are we going to stand with the thousands of police chiefs and law enforcement officers who do support this bill? Are we going to stand with the victims of gun violence? Ms Feinstein told the committee on Thursday. The bill would ban the sale, transfer, importation and manufacturing of 157 specific semi-automatic weapons, as well as ammunition magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds. Ms Feinstein was behind a 1994 assault weapons ban that expired a decade later. There had been no political will to reinstate it - gun control is considered the third rail of politics - until the Newtown bloodshed in December, when 20 young children were killed by a gunman with a Bushmaster assault rifle and 30-bullet magazines. Highlighting just how sensitive the issue is, Thursday's committee hearing included several testy exchanges, including when Ms Feinstein told Ted Cruz, the Tea Party-backed freshman senator from Texas, that "I am not a sixth grader" and saying he should not "lecture" her. Mr Cruz, a fierce opponent of the proposal, challenged her on whether the bill complied with the second amendment of the constitution. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, said assault weapons were used in a relatively small number of murders every year so the ban would provide a "false sense of safety." He also said that he could foresee a situation where someone would need more than 10 bullets for self-defence. The committee has already passed bills to require almost all prospective gun buyers to pass federal background checks and to impose tougher penalties on gun traffickers. All the measures will go to the full Senate for consideration. Democrats hold 55 seats in the Senate, but with Republicans overwhelmingly opposed to the bill and as many as six Democrats likely to side with them, the measures look unlikely to win even a simple majority - let alone the 60 votes needed to stave off a filibuster. The National Rifle Association, the influential pro-gun lobby that Ms Feinstein referred to as "the 800lb gorilla" in the room, has been waging an aggressive campaign opposing any attempt to tighten gun controls.