Obama determined to take action on guns
2013-01-09 22:30
Washington - President Barack Obama is "determined
to take action" on gun violence, his vice president said on Wednesday as a
high-profile round of White House meetings began in search of new policies
after last month's Connecticut school shooting.
Vice President Joe Biden told reporters that the shooting
of 20 children, ages 6 and 7, with a legally purchased, high-powered rifle
weighed down the nation's conscience "in a way like nothing I've seen in
my career".
While Biden was meeting with victims groups and gun
safety organisations ahead of this month's deadline to send proposals to
Congress, a contentious debate was emerging on just what gun safety should be.
Obama hopes to announce his administration's next steps
to tackle gun violence shortly after he is sworn in for a second term on 21 January.
Meanwhile, a coalition of conservative and gun-rights
groups is organising a "Gun Appreciation Day" to coincide with the
weekend of his inauguration, calling on people to visit gun stores, gun ranges
and gun shows with US flags and "Hands off my gun" signs.
Also on Wednesday, the governor of New York, the state
with some of the country's strictest gun laws, was proposing bans on all
assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines.
The outspoken Republican governor of neighbouring New
Jersey, Chris Christie, said policymakers also must address the mental health
system, improve access to drug treatment and look at the impact of violent
video games.
Gabrielle Giffords, the former congresswoman who was shot
in the head two years ago in a mass attack, is forming a political action
committee to counter the existing gun lobby while reaching out to gun owners
like herself.
And states are exploring ideas ranging from instant
background checks for people buying ammunition to one Utah town's proposal to
have every household armed.
Policy proposals
Biden's meetings this week include one on Thursday with
the country's most powerful gun lobbying group, the National Rifle Association
(NRA), which insisted after the Connecticut shooting that the answer to gun
violence was arming more "good guys" and putting an armed security
officer in every school.
Obama wants Biden to give him policy proposals by the end
of the month. "He is mindful of the need to act," White House spokesperson
Jay Carney said on Tuesday.
But as the shock and sorrow begin to fade over the
Connecticut attack that left 20 students ages 6 and 7 shot dead, some gun
rights advocates, including the NRA, are already fighting tighter gun
restrictions, conservative groups are launching pro-gun initiatives and the
Senate's top Republican has warned it could be spring before Congress begins
considering any gun legislation.
"The biggest problem we have at the moment is
spending and debt," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said this week,
pointing to looming debates over the country's borrowing limit and massive
deficit.
Obama wants Congress to reinstate a ban on military-style
assault weapons, close loopholes that allow gun buyers to avoid background
checks and restrict high-capacity magazines.
Other recommendations to the Biden group include making
gun-trafficking a felony, getting the justice department to prosecute people
caught lying on gun background-check forms and ordering federal agencies to
send data to the National Gun Background Check Database.
Giffords, the former congresswoman, is taking a prominent
role in the gun debate.
She and husband Mark Kelly, a former astronaut, wrote in
an opinion piece for USA Today on Tuesday that their new Americans for
Responsible Solutions initiative would help raise money to support greater gun
control efforts "to balance the influence of the gun lobby".
They pointed out that they support the constitutional
right to bear arms, but they wrote, "When it comes to protecting our
communities from gun violence, we're not even trying - and for the worst of
reasons."
- AP
