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January 4, 2013

Gun Control Bill Introduced on 1st Day of Congress 
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Gun control advocates introduced legislation on the first day of the new
Congress to ban high-capacity ammunition magazines used in recent
massacres, including the one at Sandy Hook Elementary last month.
Democratic Rep. Carolyn Mc Carthy of New York said in a statement:
"These assault magazines help put the 'mass' in 'mass shooting' and
anything we can do to stop their proliferation will save lives in
America." Mc Carthy, who lost her husband in a shooting on the Long
Island Rail Road — her son was also severely injured —
introduced the ammunition ban with fellow Democratic Rep. Diana De Gette
of Colorado. Gun control supporters are hoping an apparent shift in
attitudes after 20 children and six adults were killed at Sandy Hook
Elementary, as well as the shooter's mother who was killed first in her
home, might pave the way for reform. In the latest potential sign of
that shift, Republican Rep. Peter King of New York questioned ownership
of assault weapons during an appearance on MSNBC.

Peter King: "I really don't know why people need assault weapons. I'm
not a hunter, but I understand people who want. I understand people who
live in rough neighborhoods or have a small business and want to
maintain a pistol to protect themselves, so long as they're properly
vetted and licensed. But an assault weapon? Listen, I’m sure 99
percent of people with assault weapons are good Americans. But to give
that potential to a mass murderer who would be able to out-arm the
police, who, as we saw, could carry out the worst devastation?"

 

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