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.
Comments (46)
I will personally vote against any politician who does not support resonable gun laws no matter what party he/she belongs to.
We do also need a discussion of mental heathcare issues as well. We and the insurance companies do not care about these people.
I am not willing to go along the classic tired arguments like "Guns don't kill people, people kill people".
Unless you believe that we are the most violent developed country and we have the worst people in the world, how do you explain the following:
We have the highest murder rate of any developed nation.
We also have the highest gun-related homicides of any developed nation. We are 4 times higher that the closest ones and 20 times higher than the average for these nations (Washington Post, December 14).
We incarcerate by far the highest per capita number of people in the WORLD (730 per 100,000), not just the developed world.
In terms of number of people executed, we are number 5 in the world.
We are also the country with the most liberal gun laws!
Yes, guns are making us safer ??!!!!! We need more of them ??!!!
— EIK- Very well put. You hit the nail right on the head. — fightins4ever
- can't get em all , go see tony soprano !— oldsog67
- Brady, Schwartz, and the rest---hanging like vultures over a terrible tragedy.— Falls Ed
- Lets just repeal the 2nd amendment? We can seize all the guns and life will be well? Oh wait, if we did that we would be the Nazi's! Look it up, no one controlled guns better than the Nazi's.— farleftfarrightbothrfarout
America's movie's and TV shows and videos and rock and rap are sold all of the world, even in Iran, but they don't have all of the violence because they don't have industrial weaponry. They have smaller light fire arms, and are less efficient in the quantity of the murders. The US is a monster factory as well as the leading merchant of death. Heavily armed monsters equals mass murders like cloudy days. You get some every week.- I think The Whole News Media is Correct , We Should Get rid of The "Constitution" , and The 10 original "Bill of Rights" , ........Let's do that Tomorrow !
Starting with The "First Amendment" , and We can Finally get to the Root of The Problem ,......THE MEDIA , All The Out of Date First Amendment freedoms that are Abused everyday for PROFIT , and Ratings in the Big Zoo That is "Hollywood" !
Then We can All Sleep at Peace at night , and NOT Have Nightmares brought about by The "11:00 News , and The Tom Brokaw's of this Country !
The 2nd was put in place to "Protect ALL The Other 9 , let's see how they do in a Dictatorship which is Right around the Corner !— oldsog67 - Actually AreaMan it is you who have the facts incorrect. The Nazi Gun Control Act of 1938 prohibited people of the Jewish faith from "acquiring, possessing, and carrying firearms and ammunition, as well as truncheons or stabbing weapons. Those now possessing weapons and ammunition are at once to turn them over to the local police authority." Now that you understand history better, you need to understand something else. This irresponsible parent brought firearms into the home with an unstable Asberger's child. I've been around this type of child before; he tried to bury his 5-year old sister head first in the dirt after putting a plastic bag on her head. This isn't representative of people with Asberger's; I also know a pedetrician who - with therapy - leads a very productive and stable life. But back to the parent... If you know you have a volatile person in the home, why are you arming yourself? To protect yourself from your child?! This irresponsible parent cost herself her life due to her embarrassment and fear. She needed to reach out and ask for help. There is no organization better equipped to help children develop than a public school system. She had all the help she needed at her fingertips. She just needed to ask. Instead she let the situation fester, costing herself and innocent children their lives. So I'll ask you AreaMan, is it the gun or the embarrassed and fearful parent who is at fault here? Before you answer remember that the gun didn't load or fire itself. The murderer did that after his Mother trained him and made these weapons available. I will not have my Second Amendment rights revoked due to this person's shocking lack of judgment.— ItStartsInTheHomePeople
- Is that anything like Asperger's? — AreaMan
- I'd like someone to explain to me why they feel the need, as a civilian, to own a military assault rifle. Paranoia? Massive sense of insecurity or inferiority? I'm a firm 2nd Amendment supporter BTW.— omazerati
- all aboard the gravy train— Zero
- politicians are morons. tighter gun laws will NEVER stop people from STEALING guns. why is this very basic concept not being grasped????— rudyhuxtable
- Doctor, look at the prior "assault weapon" law. The ability to affix a bayonet was one of the defining characteristics of an "assault weapon". A semi-automatic weapon capable of firing one shot per trigger pull is not a modern "assault weapon". An effective killing tool, yes but not anything I would want to go into battle with!— OrvalEugeneFaubus
- Allyson...go ahead and run for Governor of Pennsylvania...just don't be surprised at the outcome. You are part of the two party system that had destroyed our country. Relax, and collect that pension from the government and enjoy the pension why you relax in your nice home, Allyson. Face it, honey, you are about control, not about fixing the problems facing our country.— FletcherT
- Keep blaming the guns...That will get mentally ill people the help they need.
NOT THE GUNS FAULT
http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/jlpp/Vol30_No2_KatesMauseronline.pdf— philagunowner - I am not a gun guy, but this is much more than a gun issue. This is a mental health issue. And a time when we start to give up privacy for the sake of security. We could do this through education. It is important right now, as always, to have the right adults in front of the children at the right time. We could do this if we could stop denigrating our teachers and demonizing our schools. The charter school movement takes the kids out of the community. The community school should be the heart of the community. The community should be centered at the school, with a lot of people in and out. The right people with the right credentials. With that much traffic a horror like this will be harder to pull off. We have been schooled in the price of ignorance. We would find good education a lot less expensive in many ways.— OldSouthPhilly
- 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 - 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
- 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 - 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 - Abortionist Schwartz, I mean Congresswoman Schwartz doesn't have room to talk.— Captain Terrific
- 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 - 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 - 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
- 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
- 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
- The writer of this article forgot to add ellipses to the NRA statement. I question why the full NRA statement was not published.— Gwense
- Grazman - Most gun owners are very responsible. In this case, an enabling mother was filling her child with ruthless vile video games desensitizing him to violence THEN TRAINED HIM ON WHO TO USE THE GUNS!!!
Amazing how parents today enable their children to the extremes they are. This kid should have been sedated and in an institution.— Professor1982 - There are no more institutions. They were closed and the inhabitants put out on the streets. Budget cuts, I think. We have a big mental illness problem in this country and it needs to be addressed along with some kind of a ban on assault weapons. But it's nice to see that Boss Brady got the same grade from the NRA that he got in school. — fightins4ever
- Two things this country has an abundance of. Troubled youth and careless gun owners. I hope every gun owner remembers to check their locks EVERY DAY. If the nice lady in CT had kept her firearms locked up like she's supposed to ...— Grazman
- NRA is right. The question here isn't guns... (the killer in this case STOLE guns legally purchased AFTER he killed the owner). The overarching issue is the breakdown of society.
Violent video games & violent movies desensitize children and, in this case, the shooter, who was known to have SEVERE MENTAL ISSUES, was placated by an enabling mother who pumped him full of violent video games and THEN TAUGHT HIM TO USE GUNS?!?!
The issue here is personal responsibility and its clear, the mother was overbearing and enabling her child to have the capacity and knowledge on use of weapons???
NO AMOUNT OF GUN LAWS WOULD HAVE STOPPED THIS TRAGEDY.
There are enough gun laws on the books already and NO REASON TO STRIP over 250MM Americans of their rights...when in fact, that would only lead to more black market and more citizens lacking defense.
BTW, isn't it amazing the media isn't covering the fact that the shooter in Oregon was stopped by an armed citizen with a concealed weapon???— Professor1982 - Um, if the assault weapon ban hadn't ended in 2004, Nancy Lanza would not have been in possession of an assault weapon and her monster son wouldn't have been able to use one at the school.
- Um, INCORRECT. CT has its own ASSAULT WEAPONS BAN, but in this case, she legally purchased this semi-automatic weapon, as its no different than hunting rifles. One trigger pull = one bullet. Adam Lanza would have used ANY WEAPON he could get his hands on to do his bidding...bat, knife, axe, bomb, whatever.
BTW, the Columbine massacred occurred DURING the Clinton Assault Weapons ban my friend and, in fact, violent crime escalated during Clinton's Assault Weapons ban.— Professor1982 - Professor - you're basically correct on the point I was trying to make. However, one of the answers is (along with, as you suggested, a society that is in some ways breaking down) to strengthen a new ban to include weapons that can use clips/magazines to shoot many bullets in short order. This is a tipping point and the status quo on guns has to end and it will.
BTW, mass shootings have INCREASED after the federal assault weapons ban expired.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/09/mass-shootings-investigation
- Good points, professor. Just more reason that we need to ban guns outright. Too many Americans have demonstrated they are not capable of handling the responsibility of owning a gun. — AreaMan
- @AreaMan - That's the very first thing the National Socialists in Germany did when their leader, a man named Adolf Hitler, was elected as Premiere.
We all know how that ended.— Professor1982 - Actually, they didn't. The Weimar Republic issued the gun ban to help deal with the chaos in Germany following WWI in 1919. The ban was slightly relaxed in 1928. Hitler was elected as Chancellor is 1933- never a Premiere (I also doubt the Germans would have used a French title.) The Nazis did change the laws in 1938 which only applied to handguns, but pretty much deregulated shotguns, rifles and ammunition. Permits lasted 3 years instead of 1. And guns could be owned at age 18 instead of 20. But it did ban Jews from owning guns. Government employees were given increased access to guns.
But, yea, don't let facts get in the way of your argument.— AreaMan 
how much money did mrs schwarz make killing babies at her abortion clinic?— hannibal barca- This comment has been deleted. — Bede19025
- Bede19025, you are vulgar. you and the 2 imbeciles above you. — Donald Segretti
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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.
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