国际英语新闻:U.S. Senate sets off gun control debate

WASHINGTON, April 11 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to open debate on gun control measures advocated by President Barack Obama and mostly Democratic lawmakers, clearing the first hurdle for relevant legislation.

In a 68-31 vote, the upper chamber of the U.S. Congress approved a procedural motion that will allow debate on the floor over the most ambitious gun control legislation in more than a decade. The move will set off weeks of debate in the Senate.

The Obama administration "strongly supports" the Senate package of gun control measures," which takes critical steps to reduce the epidemic of gun violence in the nation," according to a statement released by the White House on Thursday.

The White House welcomed the development, said White House spokesman Jay Carney at the daily briefing. Yet he stressed that this "very important" move remains to be "a first stage" in efforts to get "sensible, common-sense" gun control legislation passed on the Capitol Hill.

The Senate vote came nearly four months after 20 schoolchildren and six educators were killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting, which occurred in Newtown, Connecticut. The massacre has shocked the nation and renewed the gun control debate.

Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy signed a strict and sweeping gun control legislation of the state last week. But legislation at federal level has met much more resistance.

The Senate package of measures include providing more school safety aid, expanding federal background checks on gun sales and strengthening prosecution of illegal gun traffickers.

"The measures in this bill are common-sense solutions that in no way infringe on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding gun owners and that have the strong support of the American people," said the White House statement.

However, Obama and the Democratic lawmakers who lead the issue have yet failed to translate public support for some key parts of the 'common-sense solutions' into momentum for gun control legislation.