Schwartz, Brady, call for tighter gun laws; NRA speaks out
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Schwartz, Brady, call for tighter gun laws; NRA speaks out
Count Philly’s Bob Brady and Allyson Schwartz among the Democrats urging a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Each called for those moves today, shortly before President Obama’s spokesman said the president also backs a ban on assault weapons and closing the so-called gun-show loophole that allows for firearms purchases without background checks.
“Too many Americans die each week from gun violence,” Schwartz said on C-SPAN Tuesday morning, after calling for “common sense” gun laws in a speech on the House floor Monday night.
“When you see 20, really, babies who are just gunned down with a weapon that should not be in any civilian’s hand, it is action we should take,” Schwartz said this morning. She represents parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery County. “That is not self protection, that is really weapons intended for one purpose only, and that is to kill many people at one time and kill them fast.”
Brady, a Philadelphia Congressman, also endorsed more thorough background checks.
“This really should have happened after Columbine and all these other instances,” Brady said. He noted that he gets an F rating from the NRA. “That’s my record and I’m proud of it.”
They are part of a chorus of local Democrats calling for tougher gun laws following last week's shooting in Newtown, saying they see this event as a turning point. Many on Monday said new laws were needed -- including Philly Congressman Chaka Fattah, New Jersey's Rob Andrews and New Jersey Senators Bob Menendez and Frank Lautenberg. Area lawmakers who have typically opposed gun control were non-commital on specific plans.
Obama spokesman Jay Carney also laid out the first specifics of the president’s call to enact new restrictions on access to guns today when he spoke about the assault weapons ban.
Meanwhile, the NRA, which has been quiet since Friday’s shooting in Newtown, issued a statement saying its members are were “shocked, saddened and heartbroken by the news of the horrific and senseless murders in Newtown” and “is prepared to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again.”
The gun-rights group is planning an event in the Washington area Friday.
The whole world has violent movies and games yet we are the only country to have this problem at this magnitude. Yes, I think most gun owners are responsible individuals. We need their help to address the problem. All amendments have limitations. For ex., you can't yell fire in a theatre and say you're freedom of speech is being infringed. Lets talk some common sense. An extreme lefty is just as Cary as an extreme righty.— 19147- No the "whole world" does NOT have violent video games and movies. In fact, very few countries have the number of video games that the US has.
Typical American thinks the whole world revolves around Americans. Try spending some time in Asia or Europe and you'll see the error of your statement.— Professor1982 - You mean Asia like where Japan and South Korea are? They have a few video games too. — AreaMan
- Whether the question is guns or not; there is no reason for regular civilians to own assault weapons. The "founding fathers" had muskets and bayonets in mind, not Uzi's and Bushmaster's. A handgun will protect you paranoid clowns just fine.— DoctorLoads
- I think the problems here are a lack of places that the violently mentally ill people can be taken to for care and treatment and the huge numbers of young people playing various games that promote killing and violence.— Wildman Bill
- Violent video games, what a cop out. 16 million people bought the latest Call of Duty game, it is not a reason people shoot up schools. That is a lazy response.
Anyone care to look at how the media turns the shooter into a celebrity by constantly showing his picture and disecting his life story on 100 different channels or websites? I'm sure no troubled teen looking to gain a name for himself would look at that and think, hey the world hates me, so I'll show them.— rums623 - If it such a "copout" why are pilots, captains of ships and military special forces first trained on video games???
BECAUSE IT SIMULATES THE REAL THING AND PREPARES THEM FOR THE FLIGHT, NAVIGATION and COMBAT!!!— Professor1982 - rums623,
There are people today that cannot differentiate between the game and reality. In the game there is a reset or a magic power pill that re animates the player, in reality there is not. Children that are not socialised and have a steady diet of theses games are effected by what they are seeing in the games.— Wildman Bill - Abortionist Schwartz, I mean Congresswoman Schwartz doesn't have room to talk.— Captain Terrific
- So NRA members are “shocked, saddened and heartbroken by the news...."? Yeah right, like these scum care about anything except their nutjob agenda. Extensive gun control is LONG overdue, and never should have had to wait until twenty 1st graders were gunned down with a rapid-fire assault weapon.— Augs
- Augs - CT already had "extensive gun control" in that it bans Assault Rifles.
NO GUN LAW CAN ADDRESS MENTAL ILLNESS OR THE INTENT OF A MADMAN TO COMMIT MURDER. If anything, gun laws expose the innocent from the ability to defend themselves.
PS It wasnt a "rapid fire" assault rifle...it was an AR-15 which is semi-automatic like any other cartridge fed rifle....dummy. You just showed your ignorance on the matter.— Professor1982 - Professor1982, that might be the most ridiculous analogy I've ever heard. What was the last video game you played? And people use professional flight/ship simulators that replicate the controls of that machine. You don't learn to shoot a rifle from moving a joystick and pressing the "A" button. These video games do not teach you how to properly load a weapon or the actual experience what a real gun feels like when it is shot. You're just using a controller to operate things in a fantasy world.— rums623
- Rums...see you just don't get it. The video game devalues life and, in this case, Adam Lanza's mother was shoving video games down his throat to placate him.
Worse yet, she TAUGHT him how to shoot REAL GUNS!!!
We know liberals like you refuse to see the obvious...— Professor1982 - Mental health issues are still taboo and people do not seek treatment in fear of being labeled a nut. Society needs to treat mental healt the same as any other Health issue.— Tim L
- I'm no liberal. Thinking a video game results in a school shooting is actually something a liberal would more likely believe. Again, what was the last video game you played? If you can't answer that, then you can't make this arguement. Millions upon millions play violent video games and don't shoot up schools. If you don't think your child can't handle them, then don't allow them to play them, it's called parenting!
And YES his mother teaching him to shoot is a HUGE problem if she thought he had significant mental issues. Owning guns are a serious responsibility. And more gun bans sound nice, but have been proved over and over that they don't work. Chicago basically banned legal gun ownership and experience a significant jump in gun violence and gun deaths.— rums623
Jonathan Tamari is the Inquirer’s correspondent in Washington, where he follows the Philadelphia area’s interests and representatives. Tamari comes to D.C. after two years as a beat writer reporting on the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL (where, a political source once told him, there are at least rules against hitting below the knees). He previously wrote about politics and government from Trenton, reporting on the characters and color of New Jersey state government.Jersey born and bred, Tamari now lives in the capital city, where he is looking for stories, places to run, soccer bars and good meals.
Reach him at jtamari@phillynews.com.
Follow Jonathan on Twitter: @JonathanTamari.
