"Second Amendment rights are not at risk," he said. "Let's not put an issue out here that's not out here. But lives are at risk."

Reflecting on his decades on the panel, Leahy called for members of both parties to "come together to become a safer and more secure society."

"We do not need false charges about gun registries and gun registration to scare people when no such thing is being proposed or will be proposed," he said.

Another measure approved by the panel earlier this week would establish a framework for the Department of Education to set safety guidelines aimed at protecting schools from gun violence.