The major goal of this legislation was to refocus federal firearms law in a way that would protect peaceful firearms owners from the egregious civil rights violations that had been rife since the Gun Control Act of 1968 came into force. And there were times when it looked like the law would never serve the other purpose it was written for to put violent criminals behind bars. This is when Senators actually discuss and write the language in a bill. It s not as formal as hearings, which believe me, can be dull as dirt. In a mark-up, the Senators argue, joke and bargain like actual human beings, with little of the pompous language you hear from the Senate floor.
Senators like to limit who can watch a mark-up, so often they choose a tiny, inconvenient room.
This particular mark-up was a classic. It was in a cramped, overheated cell in the Capitol building. Only the Senators and a few staff members were allowed. I was loaded for bear, so to speak, with armloads of files containing statistics, legal cites and so forth. No chairs for us worker bees.