US gun control debate boils after school massacre
Democrats demand meaningful legislation against assault weapons after school shooting.
WASHINGTON: Democrats say meaningful action in the wake of last week s U.S. school shooting must include a ban on military-style assault weapons and a look at how the country deals with individuals suffering from serious mental illness.
Several Democratic lawmakers, and Independent Sen. Joe Lieberman from Connecticut, said Sunday that it was time to take a deeper look into the recent series of mass shootings and what can be done about it. Gun control was a hot topic in the early 1990s, when Congress enacted a 10-year ban on assault weapons. But since that ban expired in 2004, few Americans have wanted stricter laws, and politicians say they don t want to become targets of a powerful gun rights lobby.
Gun rights advocates said that might all change after the latest shooting killed 20 children aged 6 or 7.
"I think we could be at a tipping point ... a tipping point where we might actually get something done," said Sen. Chuck Schumer on CBS "Face the Nation."
On Monday, Sen. Joe Manchin, a lifelong member of the National Rifle Association, said it was time to discuss gun policy and move toward action on gun regulation. The conservative Democrat said he agrees with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has advocated banning the sale of assault weapons.
Manchin is the most prominent gun rights advocate to speak after the shooting, telling MSNBC that he is a "proud outdoorsman and hunter, but this doesn t make sense."
Speaking Sunday night at a vigil in Newtown, Connecticut, the site of Friday s massacre, President Barack Obama did not specifically address gun control. But he vowed, "In the coming weeks I ll use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens, from law enforcement to mental health professionals to parents and educators in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this."
He added: "Are we really prepared to say that we re powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard? Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?"
Schumer and other Democrats, as well as Lieberman, said they want to ban the sale of new assault weapons and make it harder for mentally ill individuals to obtain weapons. Lieberman said a new commission should be created to look at gun laws and the mental health system, as well as violence in movies and video games.
"Assault weapons were developed for the U.S. military, not commercial gun manufacturers," said Lieberman, who is retiring next year. "This is a moment to start a very serious national conversation about violence in our society, particularly about these acts of mass violence."
Sen. Dianne Feinstein said she will introduce legislation next year to ban new assault weapons, as well as big clips, drums and strips of more than 10 bullets.
"It can be done," Feinstein told NBC s "Meet the Press" of reinstating the ban despite deep opposition by the National Rifle Association and similar groups.
Bloomberg said Obama could use executive powers to enforce existing gun laws, as well as throw his weight behind legislation like Feinstein s.
"It s time for the president, I think, to stand up and lead and tell this country what we should do not go to Congress and say, What do you guys want to do? " Bloomberg told NBC s "Meet the Press."
Gun rights activists have remained largely quiet on the issue since Friday s shooting, all but one declining to appear on the Sunday talk shows.
David Gregory, the host of "Meet the Press," said NBC invited all 31 "pro-gun" senators to appear on Sunday s show, and all 31 declined. All eight Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee were unavailable or unwilling to appear on CBS "Face the Nation," host Bob Schieffer said.
