WASHINGTON (AP)—Key senators voiced concern Tuesday that crime-bill provisions to put 100,000 new police officers on the nation’s streets could be derailed by debate over controversial gun-control measures.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, the Judiciary Committee’s ranking Republican, raised the issue by objecting to Democratic amendments that would bar sales or gifts of guns to children and ban numerous assault-style weapons.

‘‘If we get into these guns provisions, we’re going to have trouble passing this bill and the country will be the loser,’‘ said Hatch, an opponent of most gun-control legislation. ‘‘If we do that, we could stop, it seems to me, the most important crime bill in history.’‘

The amendment barring gun gifts or sales to minors passed 99-1. Only Sen. J. Bennett Johnston, D-La., voted against it.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Joseph Biden Jr., D-Del., the bill’s floor manager, said he ‘‘wanted to have a ‘clean’ bill,‘’ unburdened by numerous amendments.

But Biden said ‘‘the horse was let out of the barn two days ago’‘ when Republicans introduced an amendment imposing tough minimum mandatory penalties on for using guns in federal offenses and certain violent crimes.

That amendment passed on a 58-42 vote. It would also create a federal offense, punishjable by death, for particularly brutal murders committed with guns brought across state lines. The death penalty would apply to such crimes even in states that don’t execute criminals for murder.

The amendment also imposed strict sentences for selling drugs to minors or using minors to sell drugs.

Biden had argued that the measure could dump virtually all 600,000 gun cases now handled by state and local authorities into the laps of federal prosecutors, courts and prisons.

As he opened debate Tuesday, Biden warned that more than 200 amendments had been offered, some of which were designed merely to ‘‘show everybody how tough we are.’‘

‘‘There is a mood here that if someone came to the floor and said we should barbwire the ankles of anyone who jaywalks, I think it would pass,’‘

Feeling voter anxiety about street violence, the Senate also passed other amendments that would:

_Make several illegal gang activities federal offenses, ranging from conspiring to join a criminal street gang to committing murder for that gang. It also would authorize $200 million for more prosecutors and anti-gang prevention programs. The amendment by Hatch and Minority Leader Bob Dole passed 60-38.

_Authorize the death penalty for automobile hijacking when a death occurs, whether or not a weapon is used. The amendment passed 65-34.

Once the Senate passes the crime bill, it was considered likely that many of the more controversial provisions would be dropped during House-Senate negotiations to resolve differences between two different versions of the legislation.

The Brady bill—up for approval in the House on Wednesday—is being voted on separahandled separately in both houses. That bill would impose a five-business-day waiting period and require a background check on would-be gun purchasers.

The broader crime bill calls for authorizing $22.68 billion for more police and prisons, including $8.9 billion to put 100,000 more law enforcement officers on the street.

A version approved by the House would authorize spending only $3.45 billion for up to 50,000 police over six years.

Neither measure would actually appropriate money, which supporters say would be taken from budget savings identified by the Clinton administration.