http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=cqmidday-000003262866


Amtrak riders will be able to pack handguns in their checked luggage within a year, under a provision tucked into the final version of the fiscal 2010 omnibus spending bill.

The Senate-passed Transportation-HUD spending bill included language sponsored by Sen. Roger Wicker , R-Miss., that would have required Amtrak to allow passengers to carry handguns in checked bags by March.


The language included in the final version, which was agreed upon last night by House-Senate negotiators, retains the directive, but gives Amtrak a year to implement it.

“This is an important victory for sportsmen and gun owners across the country, and it affirms congressional support of the Second Amendment,” Wicker said in a statement Wednesday. “Airline passengers in our country are allowed to transport firearms in secure, checked baggage when declared during the check-in process. Law-abiding gun owners who choose to travel on America’s taxpayer-subsidized rail line should be given the same right.”

Wicker predicted Amtrak might see an uptick in ridership as more hunters ride trains.

Conferees mostly split the difference between the House and Senate on various big-ticket transportation spending items, including high-speed rail.

Conferees settled on $2.5 billion for high speed rail grants, more than double the amount that President Obama asked for. The House-passed bill would allocate $4 billion, compared to the Senate-passed bill’s $1.2 billion.

The House bill had recommended using $2 billion of that money for a national infrastructure bank. Conferees did not allocate any money to an infrastructure bank, saying that proposal was too complicated.

Conferees agreed to fund highway spending at $42 billion, about $4 billion more than enacted last year and about $942 million more than the president requested.

The Federal Aviation Administration would receive $15.6 billion, about $221 million more than enacted last year and roughly the same as the president requested.

Conferees agreed to $10.7 billion for transit spending, including $8.3 billion in mass transit grants for light rail and bus lines. Amtrak would receive about $1.6 billion.