Dancing on Newtown victims’ graves, Obama presses Congress on victim
disarmament
Source: NBC News
"President Barack Obama on Thursday sternly rebuked opponents of
pending [victim disarmament] measures, accusing them of 'running out
the clock' and hoping that the nation forgets last year’s Newtown
school shooting in order to keep popular reforms from passing into
law. 'The entire country was shocked, and the entire country pledged
we would do something about it and that that this time would be
different,' the president said of the gun massacre that killed 20
children and six adults. 'Shame on us if we’ve forgotten.'"
(03/28/13)
Invoking Newtown, Obama presses Congress on guns
By Carrie Dann, NBC News
President Barack Obama on Thursday sternly rebuked opponents of
pending gun control measures, accusing them of “running out the clock”
and hoping that the nation forgets last year’s Newtown school shooting
in order to keep popular reforms from passing into law.
“The entire country was shocked, and the entire country pledged we
would do something about it and that that this time would be different,"
the president said of the gun massacre that killed 20 children and six
adults. “Shame on us if we’ve forgotten.”
Flanked by Vice President Joe Biden and a group of mothers who have
lost their children to gun violence, Obama accused gun rights groups of
rooting for amnesia.
“The reason we’re talking about it here today is because it’s not
done until it’s done,” he said. “And there are some powerful voices on
the other side that are interested in running out the clock or changing
the subject or drowning out the majority of the American people to
prevent any of these reforms from happening at all. They’re doing
everything they can to make all our progress collapse under the weight
of fear and frustration or their assumption is that people will just
forget about it.”
Obama's remarks came on the same day that authorities released new
information about Newtown shooter Adam Lanza, including the list of guns
and ammunition that he stockpiled for the attack. Lanza fired 154
bullets from a Bushmaster .223 caliber model XM15 rifle, the documents
said.
Citing poll numbers that show broad support – as high as 90 percent
in some polls -- for universal background checks, the president urged
voters to “make yourself unmistakenly heard” to members of Congress in
the days before the Senate takes up gun legislation next month.
“I ask every American to find out where your member of Congress
stands on these ideas,” he said. “If they’re not part of that 90% who
agree that we should make it harder for a criminal or somebody with a
severe mental illness to buy a gun, then you should ask them why not.”
The legislation working its way through the Senate has hit numerous
snags, with the threat of a filibuster now looming from lawmakers who
say the president’s framework would restrict Second Amendment rights.
“The proposals the president is calling for Congress to pass would
primarily serve to reduce the constitutionally protected rights of
law-abiding citizens while having little or no effect on violent crime,”
said Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, one of the Republicans who has pledged to
block the legislation. “It is deeply unfortunate that he continues to
use the tragedy at Newtown as a backdrop for pushing legislation that
would have done nothing to prevent that horrible crime.”
Recommended: Democrats
hit McConnell in radio ad
A federal assault weapons ban has already been dropped from the
overall gun package that Senate lawmakers plan to introduce after the
Easter recess, although advocates are pushing for a separate vote on the
measure. (Obama did not specifically mention the ban in his remarks
Thursday, focusing instead on the more politically palatable planks of
the effort.)
And negotiators are still tussling over compromise language to
require all gun buyers to complete a background check – a measure that
need take significant Republican support to overcome the threat of a
filibuster.
In recent weeks, Vice President Joe Biden has been the
administration’s public point man on the gun issue, appearing with
victims of violence and alongside gun control advocate new York City
Mayor Michael Bloomberg to appeal for “courage” from Congress.
On a conference call with gun control supporters yesterday, Biden
said the coming efforts are “just the beginning” of a public outcry to
reduce gun violence.
“I think we’re on the verge of getting a serious, thorough universal
background check system in place and it will — emphasize, it will
— it will save lives,” Biden said.
Bloomberg has led the money charge, pledging to spend millions of his
considerable fortune to pressure wavering lawmakers into supporting gun
control proposals.
“If 90 percent of the public want something, and their
representatives vote against that, common sense says, they are going to
have a price to pay for that,” the New York City mayor said during an
interview with NBC’s Meet the Press last weekend
© 2013 NBCNews.com
|