Gun Language Bogs Down Juvenile-Justice Legislation

By Adrienne Coles

In the wake of the mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado last April, it looked as if Congress was ready to pass a new juvenile-crime bill this year. But seven months later, seemingly insurmountable differences on gun control have kept members of the House and the Senate from fulfilling that mission—and some youth advocates say young people may be better off for it.

Members of the House-Senate conference committee on the reauthorization of federal juvenile-justice programs were expected to reconcile the substantial differences in their respective bills this year, but they met only once—in August. And, according to the spokeswoman for Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R- Utah, who is chairing the conference committee, no meetings to discuss the legislation had been scheduled as of last week.

But Mike Connelly, the spokesman for Rep. Henry J. Hyde, R-Ill., the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and a member of the conference panel, said that Mr. Hyde remains confident a compromise...