Sen. Lindsey Graham points to a chart as he speaks on Capitol Hill. Senators cautious at gun hearing

Gabrielle Giffords spoke for just over a minute at Wednesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with a plea for Congress to get its act together on gun violence.

With her focused delivery and simple message, she set the tone for what came next: a four-hour hearing marked by a distinct lack of drama, fighting or a conclusion.


Neither side seemed like it was playing to win. For Republicans, especially, this was a hearing to survive. No YouTube moments or arguments with Mark Kelly, Giffords’s husband. For Democrats, this was about avoiding unforced errors and not doing anything that would stall whatever momentum there is for action on gun control.

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Senators on both sides were very careful to avoid saying anything that could be seen as personally insulting the victims of gun violence — some of whom were in the room. And there were fewer of the long-winded speeches like those at last week’s hearings with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Benghazi.

Time after time, the senators and witnesses seemed to back down from confrontation.

Every head in the packed hearing room — the one used for Supreme Court nominations — perked up when it came time for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to question the witnesses, anticipating a clash with the National Rifle Association’s Wayne LaPierre.

A staunch advocate of gun control who has authored a renewal of the assault weapons ban, Feinstein greeted all of the panelists.

“Even you Mr. LaPierre,” Feinstein joked. “We tangled, what was it? Eighteen years ago. You look pretty good, actually.”

( PHOTOS: Senate guns hearing)

The line drew laughter from the audience, but that was the last time Feinstein would engage with LaPierre. The clash most were expecting between the two never materialized.

Instead, she focused her questions on Baltimore County Police Chief James Johnson, who was speaking in his capacity as chairman of the National Law Enforcement Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence. Feinstein bore down on the various issues, mental health, background checks and finally the assault weapons ban, concluding by asking the police chief why he endorsed her proposal to ban those firearms.

Wednesday morning, the hearing was the hottest ticket in town; hundreds of people waited outside in a line that snaked down the stairs and onto another floor. Dozens of members of the news media occupied rows of folding tables set up in the middle of the room. Cameras crammed the balconies. The NRA posted regular updates on Twitter about what LaPierre said.

Most of the earliest arrivals were members of the One Million Moms for Gun Control advocacy group, who wore bright yellow stickers advocating for action “now.” And many of those waiting in line before the hearing began were directed to an overflow room where the hearing was being broadcast. But after more than three hours of testimony, the room was only half full.

Several members on the panel noted the presence of families of victims of various shootings, including Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who drew attention to the family of a Newtown victim.

Giffords’s appearance at the start of the hearing caused a hush to fall across the room as she had a bipartisan escort to her seat from Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy of Vermont and ranking member Chuck Grassley of Iowa. During their remarks, each member made note of her. She left after speaking and spent the rest of the hearing watching on TV, said Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), formerly a member of the Arizona House delegation with Giffords.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said it shouldn’t have taken so long after the Tucson shooting — two years this January — for a hearing on gun violence.

“I say with some regret there should have been a hearing just like this, right after your wife, one of our own, a member of Congress, was shot point blank in the face,” Durbin said, directing his remarks at Kelly. “I’m sorry it’s taken us two years to convene this hearing.”

Kelly nodded as Durbin spoke.

Republican members in turn stuck to their own talking points, routinely making the case that current gun laws aren’t being strictly enforced and that the proposals being made will be ineffective.

But there were some flare-ups.

Echoing a frequent Republican theme during the hearing, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) pressed Johnson about whether cases were being prosecuted, asking the police chief to explain the federal numbers.

When Johnson responded that local cases in Baltimore County were all being prosecuted, Sessions cut him off.

“We’re talking about federal law today,” Sessions interjected and then changed the subject.

Leahy was the first to cross LaPierre, pressing him about whether in the late 1990s, the NRA head had endorsed expanding background checks that he now opposes.

As LaPierre continued to make the case against moving to a universal background-check system, Leahy cut him off.

“That’s not my question, please, Mr. LaPierre,” Leahy said. “I’m not trying to play games here.”

LaPierre continued to explain why the NRA thinks expanding background checks won’t work.

“It doesn’t do any good to try to extend the the law to collectors,” he said. “The law is not working.”

Leahy continued to become frustrated.

“That was not the question I asked,” Leahy said, before cutting off the testimony.

At the hearing’s end, LaPierre shook hands with Kelly before leaving without taking questions from reporters.

Durbin had a momentary outburst, as he cut off LaPierre arguing that background checks won’t be effective because criminals won’t submit to them.

“You missed that point completely,” Durbin interjected loudly. There was a moment of mumbling until Durbin took a deep breath and turned his attention to Kelly, instead.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) pressed witness Gayle Trotter, who opposed additional gun measures and argued that women need guns to protect themselves. Trotter used the example of a mother who was home alone with her child when she shot two intruders.

Whitehouse, who appeared to have researched the incident, asked Trotter about the gun used, a shotgun that would remain legal under the assault weapon ban, and whether that meant the proposed restrictions wouldn’t impede the woman from protecting herself.

The two went back and forth, with Trotter arguing that women need all the firepower available to them, including assault weapons, because they are at a physical disadvantage to male attackers.

When Whitehouse continued to insist that the gun used in that incident was sufficient, Trotter appeared to become exacerbated.

“You’re a big man,” Trotter answered, drawing laughter from the room.