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No rush for new gun controls
DAVID ESPO,
AP
Tuesday April 17, 2007
WASHINGTON - After the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record) cautioned
Tuesday against a "rush to judgment" on stricter gun control.
A leading House supporter of restrictions on firearms conceded
passage of legislation would be difficult.
"I think we ought to be thinking about the families and the
victims and not speculate about future legislative battles that
might lie ahead," said Reid, a view expressed by other Democratic
leaders the day after the shootings that left 33 dead on the campus
of Virginia Tech.
Democrats traditionally have been in the forefront of efforts to
pass gun control legislation, but there is a widespread perception
among political strategists that the issue has been a loser in recent
campaigns. It was notably absent from the agenda Reid and House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record) unveiled earlier
this year when the party took control of the House and Senate for
the first time in more than a decade.
In the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, a few Democrats renewed
the call for gun control legislation, and more are expected to join
them.
"I believe this will reignite the dormant effort to pass commonsense
gun regulations in this nation," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein
(news, bio, voting record), a California Democrat who was a leader
in the failed drive to renew a ban on certain types of assault weapons
that expired in 2004.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., was one of very few lawmakers
to refer on gun control in the early hours after the shootings.
"There will be time to debate the steps needed to avert such
tragedies," he said on Monday, "but today, our thoughts
and prayers go to their families."
By coincidence, Kennedy and Rep. Xavier Becerra (news, bio, voting
record), D-Calif., are scheduled to attend a demonstration Friday
at a firing range used by U.S. Capitol Police to draw attention
to microstamping, a procedure by which serial numbers are placed
on ammunition casings. The goal is to allow police and other investigators
to quickly track ammunition to the gun that fired it.
The two lawmakers support legislation to require microstamping
for all guns manufactured after 2009, and aides to both said they
planned to go ahead with the demonstration.
Overall, though, said Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (news, bio, voting
record), D-N.Y., "It is a tough sell" to pass gun control
legislation. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., held a brief meeting
on the subject to discuss possible legislation, but there was no
apparent eagerness by Reid, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (news,
bio, voting record), D-Md., or her to predict Democrats would lead
a drive to toughen existing laws.
One senior Democrat, Rep. Charles Rangel (news, bio, voting record)
of New York, said gun rights advocates are simply too influential
to allow a tightening of gun control laws. "It's a regional
thing, it's a cultural thing," Rangel said, arguing that even
in areas where 85 percent of the people support more restrictions,
the 15 percent minority is far more active and outspoken.
Less than a month ago, Pelosi and other Democratic leaders abruptly
pulled legislation to give the District of Columbia voting representation
in the House. Republicans were using the issue to try to force a
vote on repeal of the capital's handgun ban, and Democrats feared
it would pass.
Hoyer told reporters he thought and hoped the shootings at Virginia
Tech would make it harder for Republicans to prevail when the voting
rights bill returns to the House floor later this week.
He refused to be drawn into a discussion of the longer-term political
consequences of the shooting, saying, "All I am saying is there
will be a debate. I am not going to enter into the debate today."
Not all lawmakers were as reticent.
Sen. Larry Craig (news, bio, voting record), R-Idaho, one of Congress'
most persistent advocates of gun rights, noted that the student
who police say was the shooter at Virginia Tech had brought a weapon
onto campus in violation of restrictions. He said he doubted a law
could be passed that would protect "any of us when somebody
who is mentally deranged decides to do this."
One law enforcement official has said that the gunman's backpack
contained a receipt for a March purchase of a Glock 9 mm pistol.
The gunman held a green card, meaning he was a legal, permanent
resident, federal officials said. That meant he was eligible to
buy a handgun unless he had been convicted of a felony.
Democrats have grown less supportive of gun control legislation
as a party in the past decade.
After the shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado, then-Vice
President Al Gore cast a tie-breaking vote in the Senate on legislation
to reduce the availability of certain firearms. He and other gun
control advocates claimed victory, but many strategists believe
the vote hurt him in the 2000 presidential election.
Gun control tends to win favor among suburban voters, but it often
stirs opposition in less heavily populated areas
So far this year, there has been little evidence that Democrats
feel otherwise after winning control of the House by picking up
seats last fall in parts of Indiana, Ohio, Texas, Arizona and elsewhere
where hunting is popular.
INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
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