US makes progress on gun push Gun-violence legislation took major steps forward on Capitol Hill on Tuesday as a Senate committee advanced measures on universal background checks and safe schools, while the House heard emotional testimony related to gun-trafficking crimes. New York senator Chuck Schumer, the author of the Senate background check bill, blasted the Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, just before those Republicans voted against his bill. "Right after Newtown there was a view that maybe the right place we could all come together on" was background checks, Senator Schumer said at the Tuesday morning hearing. Because background checks ... do not interfere with the law-abiding citizen's right to bear arms. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the committee's ranking Republican, argued that the background-check bill only imposed onerous regulations on law-abiding citizens, and would push criminals to use "straw purchasers" or steal guns. Senator Schumer said the Republicans did not use that logic on laws regarding terrorism and other crimes. The bill would require every gun buyer to pass a background check ensuring they had no criminal history, or history of serious mental illness or spousal abuse. The second measure to be advanced was a bill to increase school safety, which includes extra funding for armed officers at schools. While many schools already have armed guards, some schools have requested aid from the federal government to provide this security. The background-check bill passed with a pure party-line vote. Four Republicans joined Democrats in supporting the school safety bill, sponsored by California Democrat Barbara Boxer. Meanwhile, the House considered legislation to match a Senate bill that passed committee last week on "straw purchasers." Law enforcement officers from around the country testified before the bill's bipartisan sponsors, including a firefighter shot on Christmas Eve last year and the San Francisco chief of police. Elizabeth Esty, whose district includes the Newtown elementary school, said that if Washington took no action in the wave of mass shootings, it would signal a major failure. If not now, when? Ms Esty said.