'The Idea of More Serious Gun Measures ... Is Just Something We Don't Seem To Have The Political Will To Do'
A forthcoming attempt to ban assault weapons will test the political will for national gun reform
Politicians and political commentators appear to be waking up — and giving voice —to the utter impotence in which gun control advocates find themselves in the current political environment, even in the midst of ongoing spasms of deadly gun violence across the United States.
Back-to-back shootings at an LGBTQ night spot in Colorado and a Walmart in Virginia have re-sparked interest in additional gun safety reforms — proposed reforms which are almost uniformly opposed by those on the right.
The question seems to be whether congressional Democrats can get anywhere in passing a bill — as President Biden is advocating — that would ban so-called assault weapons similar to the ban which was in place for a decade between 1994 and 2004.
The plan is for Democrats to bring up such legislation in the brief, so-called “lame duck” congressional session before the new Congress convenes in January and Democrats lose their control of the House.
The shootings over the last week or so in Colorado and Virginia only add to a long line of such massacres this year — in Buffalo NY, Ulvalde Texas and elsewhere.
“We have no other choice, and the question, is are we are going to be adults on the floor of the House and recognize that the world watches as we kill, kill, kill. 440 million guns, Rev. More than people in the United States,” Rep Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) said this weekend on the Rev Al Sharpton's MSNBC program. “And we know, as I think I said earlier, that the choice of weapon for young men, tragically those who are now using these to shoot. Uvalde was a young man of 18 years old he was able without a waiting period, to buy a gun.
“And so here we are. We have to move forward. I think that we can get the votes. Shame on them, I think there may be some Republicans who may see this as reasonable because the bill itself characterizes certain guns that are not included, and others that are,” the congresswoman added. “I also think that we should have a legislation that may hold manufacturers liable for these guns that are out and about and are in the hands of those that should not get them.”
Not a single week in 2022 has passed without at least four mass shootings, according to a Washington Post analysis, according to journalist Yamiche Alcindor in a separate television appearance.
“The idea of more serious gun measures ..is just something that we don’t seem to have the political will to do,” responded host Susan Page.
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