DN Editorial: 535 culprits are responsible for killing assault-weapon ban

WEDNESDAY'S New York Daily News ran a front page featuring photos of the children killed in Newtown, Conn., with the words: "Shame on us: Assault weapon bill is dead."

But we disagree: The shame is not on "us," the American people.

Don't even blame the NRA.

The culprits behind the death of the assault-weapon ban, authored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, that was part of other measures heading to a Senate vote, are not anonymous Americans, or faceless members of a powerful gun-rights group. They can be named, and found, in Washington: The 535 officials whom we elected to Congress, who are ignoring the will of the people to institute commonsense reforms to discourage the kind of carnage that happened in December, as well as at sites of mass murders perpetrated with the help of high-capacity killing machines.

Feinstein's measure would have reinstituted a ban on military-style assault weapons - designed only to kill as many people as possible without reloading - that expired in 2004.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the measure didn't have the votes.

That lack of votes should be the fate of every congressperson and senator who is siding with special interests instead of the fate of the people. Poll after poll says that the majority of Americans favor such a ban. And one petition for measures that included an assault-weapons ban from the Mayors Against Illegal Guns group generated more than a quarter-million signatures. Still in play in the coming weeks are stronger background checks (which a recent Pew poll says that 85 percent of people support) and stronger measures for gun trafficking.

If passed, those will represent progress, but it's not enough. Not if we're still enabling killers to work as efficiently as possible.

In September, thousands of Philadelphia children will enter an unfamiliar world when they begin attending new schools. Along with books and lunch boxes, they will carry the emotional baggage of the backlash against the school closings that made the transfers necessary - including lawsuits, accusations of racism and continuing protests against the school.

That's why we applaud the After Schools Activities Partnerships, which donated $50,000 to a new fundraising challenge to create and fund programs for 10,000 children attending new schools in the fall. ASAP is working with the city and the school district to provide programs such as chess, Scrabble, drama and debate, which have been associated with academic gains, at the more than 40 schools that are scheduled to receive new students.

Not only will these programs keep children occupied during the most dangerous time of the day - from 3 to 6 p.m., after school, when they have less adult supervision - but also they will give students a chance to interact with their new classmates.

Now is the time to make a tax-deductible donation to the Philadelphia's Children First Fund at 215-979-1188 or philachildren first.org