Washington Democrats are calling for stricter gun control measures after a mass shooting in Orlando left 50 dead and dozens others wounded, and the National Rifle Association is calling on its members to oppose any legislation that might infringe on Second Amendment rights.
Advertisement
Chris Murphy, the democratic senator of CT, told his twitter followers that the “ridiculous” rule of the senate mandates that 60 votes are needed to pass any of the amendments. “No matter the outcome, the change is already here”.
“This is unfortunately about politics on Monday night, not about finding a solution that will work for our country”, said Republican Bob Corker of Tennessee. Although the Orlando shooter wasn’t now on a watch list, his purchase of an assault-style weapon illustrates how easy it is for a lone-wolf ISIS sympathizer to get armed for a similar shooting spree.
Another smart measure by Democratic Sens. Corker thinks his colleagues are still confused about what the terror watch database actually is. Using what could be considered much stronger language than he’s used before, the president called the weapons used in the Orlando massacre “weapons of war”. It’s not a way to solve this problem.
“The motives of this killer may have been different than the mass shooters in Aurora or Newtown”, Obama said, listing two in the litany of mass shootings that have marked his presidency. It would give the Justice Department the power to stop anyone from purchasing a gun if that person has been on the federal terror watch lists sometime in the past five years. “America is absolutely awash with easily obtainable firearms”, an Al Qaeda spokesman said in a 2011 recruitment video that encouraged the purchase of weapons at gun shows.
Republicans have championed a counter proposal from Texas Sen. Should people on terror watch lists be able to buy guns? But we can stop some tragedies. “You know what, that would have been a lovely, handsome sight, folks”, CNN quoted him as saying.
President Barack Obama, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson all took the tack this week that gun measures were a safeguard against terrorism. Every terrorist will get a gun.
Prior to their meeting with families and survivors, Obama and Biden spoke to local law enforcement officials to thank them for their actions in responding to the attack at Pulse nightclub, according to the White House.
“I got word that he had sent it to the NRA, and that was sort of a clue”, Feinstein explained.
The fight over tightening gun laws has taken on urgency after the shootings in Orlando, with signs that some Republicans were willing to compromise on long-held opposition to gun restrictions.
California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is promoting a ballot measure that make numerous proposed bills into law, if they can’t pass the state legislature.
The push for gun control legislation, which would be the first in the United States in more than 20 years, followed a gunman’s slaughter of 49 people at a gay Orlando nightclub in the deadliest mass shooting in modern USA history.
Advertisement
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday that “nobody wants terrorists to have firearms” and that he was open to suggestions from experts on legislation that could address the problem. During those 15 hours of the filibuster, 48 people were shot, said Mr Murphy.
