Archive for December 18th, 2012

NRA breaks silence, pledges ‘meaningful contributions’ to prevent further massacres

Tuesday, December 18, 2012 by:dan@hearstdc.com (Dan Freedman)
Comment
Comments(1)

|
|

The National Rifle Association on Tuesday broke its silence over the Newtown, Conn., tragedy just enough to say it would offer “meaningful contributions” aimed at preventing another mass-shooting incident.

Faced with a crescendo of calls for gun control in the wake of last week’s Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in which a gunman armed with a Bushmaster AR-15 .223 semi-automatic rifle killed 20 children and six adults, the NRA said it was not commenting “as a matter of decency’’ while families mourned and the police investigation continued.

But the nation’s premier advocacy and lobbying organization for gun owners said in a statement: “The National Rifle Association of America is made up of four million moms and dads, sons and daughters — and we were shocked, saddened and heartbroken by the news of the horrific and senseless murders in Newtown.’’

In the statement, the group said it “is prepared to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again.’’ It did not elaborate on what those “contributions’’ might entail, or whether it would sit down with President Obama and lawmakers on Capitol Hill to discuss an updated assault weapons ban to be introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and the proposal of Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., to expand background checks for individuals purchasing guns.

The group said it would hold a news conference on Friday. NRA director of public affairs Andrew Arulanandam did not respond to an email request for further explanation.

The NRA has been an implacable foe of gun control, seeing even limited proposals such as last year’s requirement that border-state firearms dealers report multiple semi-automatic rifle purchases to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as threats to Second Amendment rights.

“They are an effective lobbying machine because a consistent portion of their membership makes the calls, talks to members (of Congress) and shows up at their town meetings,’’ said Josh Sugarmann, a Newtown, Conn., native who is director of the Violence Policy Center and author of a book “NRA: Money, Firepower and Fear.’’ Members “follow directions from the NRA without question. That’s their greatest asset.’’

NRA’s PAC, the NRA Political Victory Fund, invested more than $17 million in the 2012 election but their chosen candidates mostly went down to defeat, including GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

The NRA PAC spent $3.4 million targeting four Democratic incumbents — Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Senator Bill Nelson of Florida, Tim Kaine of Virginia, Claire McCaskill of Missouri — and two Democratic competitors for open seats — Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Chris Murphy of Connecticut. All six won their races against NRA-backed Republicans.

That’s a far cry from the group’s heyday in 1994 when it was widely credited with winning control of the House and Senate for Republicans midway through Democratic President Bill Clinton’s first term. The Republican sweep came just two months after Congress approved Feinstein’s original assault weapons ban, which expired in 2004.

In an interview after the 1994 election, Clinton himself credited the NRA with being instrumental in ushering backbench conservative Rep. Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., to the pinnacle of power as Speaker of the House.

But some critics now say the group’s power was overstated and that in any case, the leadership’s views were often at variance with its membership.

A poll by the GOP pollster Frank Luntz earlier this year for N.Y. Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns found that 74 percent of NRA members and 87 percent of non-NRA gun owners support background checks for anyone purchasing a gun.

The NRA gradually came to support background checks when they could be done instantly over a computer instead of requiring purchasers to wait for days until they could be completed. But the group has opposed expanding background checks to transactions between unlicensed private individuals, known as the “gun show loophole.’’ Under current law, only guns sold by federally licensed firearms dealers require background checks.

Whatever the reality, the prospect of NRA opposition inspired fear in many office-holders and candidates who came to believe their political futures depended on not offending gun owners in their districts by opposing NRA positions.

“Washington is a town where perception is power,’’ said Paul Helmke, former Republican mayor of Fort Wayne, Ind., who directed the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence from 2006 to 2011. “The NRA sold its story and people believed it.’’

Getting specific: Obama endorses a new assault weapons ban

Tuesday, December 18, 2012 by:richard.dunham@chron.com (Richard Dunham)
Comment
Comments

|
|

By CHARLES J. LEWIS

President Obama, joined by the entire congressional delegation from Connecticut, today endorsed a new federal ban on assault weapons in the wake of the Newtown school massacre where a 20-year-old man used an assault rifle to murder 20 children and six adults.

Obama is “actively supportive” of efforts to reinstate an assault weapons ban, White House spokesman Jay Carney said this afternoon. The president, in his remarks Sunday night at Newtown High School, had urged unspecified actions to curb the rash of mass shootings, though as a member of the Senate he had supported a ban.

Obama “does want to move,’’ Carney told reporters. “He wants to move in the coming weeks, which is a fairly short period of time. And while he supports, and strongly, renewal of the assault weapons ban, and strongly other measures, he wants to expand the conversation beyond those specific areas of legislation to look at other ways we can address this problem.”

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the author of the assault weapons ban that became law in 1994 but expired in 2004, says she will introduce an “updated’’ assault weapons ban when Congress convenes Jan. 3.

Her new bill would outlaw 100 specifically-named firearms, weapons that can accept detachable magazines as well as certain semiautomatic rifles, handguns and shotguns that can accept a detachable magazine and semiautomatic rifles and handguns with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., took the floor of the Senate on Tuesday to describe how Adam Lanza, armed with a Bushmaster AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, a 10 mm Glock handgun, a 9 mm Sig Sauer pistol, and magazines filled with hundreds of rounds of ammunition, invaded Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown and killed students and staffers.

“There is no single new law, no simple solution, that will be a cure-all’’ to the violence, Blumenthal said, “but there are sound, sensible steps that we can take. . . . We need to do something to effectively ban assault weapons. I am talking about weapons that are not designed for self-defense or hunting, but rather for killing and maiming human beings, often as many as possible, as fast as possible. Weapons that are civilian versions of military weapons. There is no reason that such weapons should be for sale today in America.”

Ben Marter, a spokeman for Sen.-elect Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said the incoming lawmaker “won’t just vote for (a ban) — he’ll work hard to make sure that it passes.’’

The state’s five House members — Democrats Jim Himes of Greenwich, Rosa DeLauro of New Haven, Joe Courtney of Vernon, John Larson of East Hartford and Murphy — said they supported a ban on assault weapons, though they would wait until they saw specific legislative language before endorsing any particular bill.

The drive to reinstate the assault weapons ban also picked up the endorsement of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which announced its support of the legislation that Feinstein is preparing.

Feinstein was the sponsor the 1994 ban that outlawed 18 specific models of semiautomatic weapons. The law expired in 2004 and lawmakers, mainly Republicans, refused to renew it.

By pushing for a new assault weapons ban, the Obama administration could reap political benefits among suburban voters who abhor weapons of that type. On the other hand, if House Republicans thwart any effort to renew the ban, the Obama administration could gain among those voters who would blame Republicans for blocking a new ban.

Meantime, the campaign against assault weapons broadened Tuesday to include legislation against ammunition magazines that could hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

A bill backed by Reps. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., and Diana DeGette, D-Colo., would ban magazines for more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

“Right away we could pass . . . the ban on the assault magazine,” House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Tuesday. “Just to ban the magazine, the assault magazine, we could do it right now.”

In the aftermath of Newtown shooting, Rick Perry warns about a ‘knee-jerk reaction’ for gun control

Tuesday, December 18, 2012 by:jana.kasperka@chron.com (Jana Kasperkevic)
Comment
Comments(6)

|
|

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, speaking to a Tea Party gathering, warned about “a knee-jerk reaction” from the federal government to the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, reports NBC.

“One of the things that I hope we don’t want to see from the federal government is a knee-jerk reaction from Washington, D.C., when there is an event that occurs, that they can come in and think they know the answer,” Perry said in North Richland Hills.

In the aftermath of the Newtown tragedy, President Barack Obama, as well as the entire Connecticut congressional delegation, have called on the federal government to act on gun control. While few specifics have been mentioned by the White House, there seems to be growing national public opinion that Congress and the White House have not done enough on the issue.

“We’re all parents and they’re all our children,” said Obama, when speaking in Newtown on Sunday night. “This is our first task, caring for children. By that measure, can we truly say as a nation that we’re meeting that obligation? I’ve been reflecting on this the last few days and the answer is, no.”

Gov. Rick Perry told the reporters Monday he believes in “local control” — allowing each school district to set their own restrictions — when it comes to allowing concealed weapons into public schools.

The Lone Star State governor did not formally take questions from the press, with aides saying he was tired from an earlier trip to California and was suffering from allergies. While running for president in 2011, Perry suffered from exhaustion caused by back surgery.

“It was an extraordinary experience — I mean, one that I wouldn’t trade,” Perry said of running for president on Monday. “And looking back on it, knowing even unsuccessfully, I would, I would do it again.”

Grover Norquist previously said if Perry is to run again, he first has to deal with his back pain.

And allergies, it seems, as well.

View more videos at: http://nbcdfw.com.

Will U.S. mayors be the real muscle to get tougher gun laws? (VIDEO)

Tuesday, December 18, 2012 by:cmarinucci@sfchronicle.com (Carla Marinucci)
Comment
Comments

|
|

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson are among a crowd of U.S. mayors now calling on President Obama and the Congress to back California U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein’s renewed efforts toward tougher gun laws in the wake of the Connecticut school massacre. 

The mayors, in conjunction with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, sent an open letter Monday to Obama and legislators in the wake of Friday’s horrific Newtown, Conn. shooting. The appeal said that it’s not only time for a tough look at tough gun laws, but also “a reversal of the culture of violence in this country, a commission
to examine violence in the nation, and more adequate funding for the mental health system.”

Joe Tuman, the SFSU communications department chair and former Oakland mayoral candidate, told us Monday that — after years of unanswered calls for such reforms from Congress — it will now be the responsibility of  local officials on the front lines to keep up the political pressure.

While Tuman lauds Feinstein’s efforts, he also registers profound frustration with the situation in cities like Oakland, where he says he’s watched a parade of young victims succumb to gun violence.

“We’ve had 121 murders in Oakland this year alone. That doesn’t even include the number of people who have been shot but not killed, or threatened with guns in muggings or assaults. Where is the outrage here?,” he wrote in a Facebook blog this week. “I think it is great that Senator Feinstein is willing to revisit the assault weapon ban—but honestly, where has she been for the past year while violent crime in cities like Oakland surged?”

“Why does it take a national news story to get people in Washington to pay attention to what’s happening at home every day?”

Tuman told us that Feinstein, a centrist Democrat whose political career was shaped by gun violence — the City Hall assasination of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk — is well-positioned to push the matter.
But it will take local officials to stay tough, keep up the heat — and get Congress and the White House to finally act, he said.

Looks like the U.S. mayors are now resolved to push the matter in hopes that the the issues doesn’t go away this time.

Here’s excerpts from their letter released today:

“Again and again and again, Americans are stunned by senseless acts of violence involving guns. Friday’s
tragedy targeting young children in Newtown is incomprehensible. Too many times this year, mayors have
expressed shock at a mass shooting. Even more frequently, many of us must cope with the gun violence that
occurs on the streets of our cities. …
“The Conference has been calling for sensible gun laws to protect the public for more than 40 years. Mayors
and police chiefs from cities of all sizes have worked together in this effort over the years.
“We urge you to take immediate action: the President to exercise his powers though Executive Order and
Congress to introduce and pass legislation to make reasonable changes in our gun laws and regulations.
Specifically we call on you to:
• Enact legislation to ban assault weapons and other high-capacity magazines being prepared by Senator
Dianne Feinstein and others;
• Strengthen the national background check system and eliminate loopholes in it; and
• Strengthen the penalties for straw purchases of guns. …
“We believe that with this latest national tragedy and the high incidence of gun violence that continues to
plague our streets, we have reached a tipping point. The nation’s mayors pledge to work with you to build a
safer America for our children and all of our citizens.”

Game changer? Gun control backers think they have momentum in Washington.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012 by:richard.dunham@chron.com (Richard Dunham)
Comment
Comments

|
|

By DAN FREEDMAN
and RICK DUNHAM

Advocates of stricter gun legislation, emboldened by a shift in public opinion following last week’s school shootings in Newtown, Conn., pushed Monday for a renewed assault weapons ban and other gun control measures that have failed to gain traction over the past decade.

Three days after a gunman took the lives of 20 children and six adults with a Bushmaster .223 semi-automatic rifle, several pro-gun lawmakers — including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. — said they were willing to consider new firearms legislation.

“We need to accept the reality that we are not doing enough to protect our citizens,’’ said Reid said in a statement on the Senate floor. “In the coming days and weeks, we will engage in a meaningful conversation and thoughtful debate about how to change laws and culture that allow violence to grow.’’

Even Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., a longtime NRA member with an A-rating from the powerful gun lobbying organization, said “everything should be on the table.”

Appearing on MSNBC, he added that Second Amendment rights would not necessarily be violated by controls on high-capacity magazines. “I’ve never had more than three shells in a clip,” said Manchin. “I’m a proud outdoorsman and hunter, but this doesn’t make sense.’’

Statements from Democrats such as Reid, Manchin and Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., — who said Monday “the status quo isn’t acceptable’’ — are a key measure of strength for gun control because even though the party is generally sympathetic to restraints on firearms, these senators and others with significant pro-gun rural constituencies have insulated themselves in Republican-leaning states in part by championing gun rights.

But it wasn’t just lawmakers who were reassessing their views. Support for stricter gun control measures has reached a five-year high in the aftermath of the Connecticut school massacre, according to a new ABC News/Washington Post poll released today.

Fifty-four percent of Americans back new controls on guns — and 59 percent back curbs on the high-capacity ammunition clips used in many of the recent shooting rampages.

Another shift: Gun control supporters now have more intensity than opponents of stricter controls. Forty-four percent of Americans say they “strongly” favor stricter action while 32 percent say they oppose new controls “strongly.”

Gun control advocates — led by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and backed by Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy — pushed for swift action in Washington.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she would introduce an “updated’’ assault weapons ban that would outlaw 100 specifically-named firearms, weapons that can accept detachable magazines as well as certain semiautomatic rifles, handguns and shotguns that can accept a detachable magazine and semiautomatic rifles and handguns with a fixed magazine that can accept more than 10 rounds.

Feinstein is the author of the assault weapons ban that became law in 1994 but expired in 2004 when Congress refused to renew it.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., also is likely to re-introduce legislation to require universal background checks on all weapons transactions. Current law requires background checks on weapons sold by federally licensed firearms dealers. Schumer’s measure, along with a similar bill by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., in the House, would also require background checks on transactions between private parties, with a few exceptions.

Nevertheless, members of Congress who favor gun control face what may prove to be an insurmountable barrier of lawmakers from both parties who are not likely to change their support for gun rights.

For the most part, pro-gun Republicans who control the House remained conspicuously silent Monday. “One indisputable call to action from the Connecticut tragedy — SECURE YOUR GUNS IF YOU OWN THEM,’’ Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, said via Twitter.

But opposition to new laws nevertheless percolated from a few House members such as Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas. “Instead of saying we need to outlaw certain types weapons, we need to find better ways to enforce current law,’’ Green said in an interview. “The kneejerk approach of those who want to control firearms may not be the solution.’’

He predicted that neither the proposed assault weapons ban nor the expanded background-checks proposal “would move in the House.’’

Gun control advocates acknowledge the climb may be steep to get gun-control legislation through Congress. But they say that unlike previous incidents such as the one at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., in July, in which a shooter, James Holmes, took the lives of 12 and wounded 57, the drumbeat for change in gun laws is much stronger in the wake of the Connecticut shootings.

“We have to change the paradigm and culture on this issue,’’ said Colin Goddard, federal of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, who survived four gunshot wounds in the 2007 Virginia Tech attack in which 32 died. “We’ve got to get over the dismal, bleak outlook that nothing can be done.’’

As nationwide debate about gun control heats up, NRA goes silent (updated)

Tuesday, December 18, 2012 by:jana.kasperka@chron.com (Jana Kasperkevic)
Comment
Comments

|
|

In the aftermath of the tragic Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn., most Americans say they want a serious debate on gun control.

The president and supporters of gun legislation have complied, either with proposals (on Capitol Hill) or non-specific pleas for action (from the White House). However, another key player is staying mum.

The National Rifle Association, universally known as the NRA, has stayed silent ever since the news of Friday’s school slaughter broke.

According to BuzzFeed, this is not the first time the organization has chosen to remain silent on social media after a mass shooting. In July, following the mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado, the NRA did not tweet for 10 days. Twelve people were killed in Aurora.

Following two other, more recent mass shootings with lower counts of fatalities, the NRA refrained from tweeting for one day. The shootings in question were Aug. 5 shooting at the Sikh temple in Wisconsin, with seven people dead, and Dec. 11 shooting at Clackamas Town Center in Oregon with three people dead.

Furthermore, to prevent a flood of comments posted on its Facebook page, the NRA has taken it down just days after reaching 1.7 million likes on Dec. 13., reported Slate.

While gun control supporters have saturated the airwaves since the weekend, NRA allies have kept a low profile. Several prominent gun rights advocates, including Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, canceled scheduled television appearances in the days after the shooting. (Hutchison cited laryngitis as the reason for begging off an appearance on CBS’ Face the Nation.)

Among the Second Amendment activists who have taken to TV are Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, who has urged caution when tackling legislative changes, and Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert, who suggested that teachers and school administrators be empowered to possess weapons on campus.

Late this afternoon, the NRA issued this “important statement” to the media:

The National Rifle Association of America is made up of four million moms and dads, sons and daughters – and we were shocked, saddened and heartbroken by the news of the horrific and senseless murders in Newtown.

Out of respect for the families, and as a matter of common decency, we have given time for mourning, prayer and a full investigation of the facts before commenting.

The NRA is prepared to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again.

The NRA is planning to hold a major news conference in the Washington, DC area on Friday, December 21.

Details will be released to the media at the appropriate time.

In Washington, inauguration preparations are well under way

Tuesday, December 18, 2012 by:jana.kasperka@chron.com (Jana Kasperkevic)
Comment
Comments

|
|

The nation is focused on the Connecticut school massacre, but in Washington, preparations for the 2013 inauguration are well underway.

The preparations were kicked off on Sept. 20, six weeks before voters picked the man who would be sworn in to serve as president for the next four years. Last week, Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York and Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, members of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, updated the press on progress of the preparations. The preparation are on time and on budget, said Sen. Schumer. He said that the cost covered by the federal budget will be $1.2 million.