By Sharon Johnson,WeNews senior correspondent

Gun-control bills authored by Carolyn McCarthy and Barbara Boxer have been gaining co-sponsors in the aftermath of the shooting in Tucson, Ariz. Chicago’s Jan Schakowsky calls the congressional gender gap a major hurdle in limiting firearms.

Republicans and conservative Democrats have ambushed bills limiting firearms since 1994, but two veteran Congresswomen think it’s time to try again.

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, Democrat of New York, and Sen. Barbara Boxer, Democrat of California, believe the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Democrat of

Arizona, at a Tucson shopping center Jan. 8 will be a powerful incentive for the 112th Congress to pass laws to protect innocent bystanders. Using an automatic pistol, the shooter in Tucson killed six bystanders and wounded 14 more.

McCarthy’s bill would keep the worst tools of mass murderers away from the general public by restricting ammunition magazines to a maximum of 10 rounds. Such a ban was in effect between 1994 and 2004 as part of the ban on assault weapons, which also expired in 2004. Since then, high-capacity magazine clips have been available for purchase without restrictions.

Jared Loughner, the suspect in the Tucson shooting, allegedly fired off 31 bullets in 15 seconds before he was wrestled to the ground by a bystander as he was trying to reload another 31-clip.

Boxer’s bill, which requires states to tighten laws that permit individuals to carry concealed weapons, was introduced Jan. 25.

Shams J. Tarek, communications director for McCarthy, said momentum is building for passage of the ban in McCarthy’s bill and that the House bill already has 80 co-sponsors. It has been referred to the House Sub-Committee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security.

“An identical bill has been introduced in the Senate by Frank Lautenberg, Democrat of New Jersey,” said Tarek in a phone interview. “Prominent pro-gun Republicans, like former Vice President Dick Cheney, a NRA member and hunter, and Meghan McCain, daughter of Sen. John McCain of Arizona, have said it is time to reconsider a ban on high-capacity magazines.”

Some pro-gun Republicans in the GOP-controlled House are accused of stalling consideration until public outrage over the Arizona violence fades.

Rep. Lamar Smith, Republican of Texas, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, rejected calls by 16 Democrats on the committee in late January for hearings on gun safety measures, suggesting that such hearings could threaten the prosecution of the alleged gunman.

Gun Ownership Consequences

To win support from male legislators, Katherine Hennigan, chair of the Los Angeles-based Women Against Gun Violence–an educational organization that grew out of a national seminar in 1994 that identified gun violence as a women’s issue–said that advocates for gun control must stress that although many people buy guns for self protection, owning a gun often leads to dire consequences.

“Less than 1 percent of all gun deaths in the U.S. involve self defense,” said Hennigan in a telephone interview. “The rest are homicides, suicides or accidents. Moreover, studies show that a gun kept in the home is 22 times more likely to be used in an unintentional shooting, a criminal assault, a homicide or a suicide than it is to be used to injure or kill in self defense.”

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Democrat of Illinois and co-chair of the Women’s Caucus in the 111th Congress that ended in November, said in a phone interview that the gender gap in Congress–where women are only 17 percent–poses a hurdle to passing gun control legislation this session.

To read the full story, click here.