Thursday, January 17, 2013 11:14:37 AM
Newtown superintendent of schools speaks at gun violence hearing
By Joseph Wenzel
Posted: Jan 16, 2013 1:19 PM CST Updated: Jan 16, 2013 7:39 PM CST
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WFSB) - The superintendent of schools for Newtown testified at a gun violence hearing at Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. on Wednesday afternoon.
Janet Robinson spoke in front of the Steering and Policy Committee, which is co-chaired by U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro.
On Dec. 14, Adam Lanza shot and killed his mother at their home, then went to Sandy Hook Elementary School and killed 26 children and adults.
"I'm here to give a face to the children, the staff and the families of Sandy Hook," Robinson said at the beginning of her testimony
Robinson vividly described what happened on Dec. 14 and explained that the day started "like every other morning."
"Sandy Hook Elementary seemed like the safest place in this suburban community," she said.
Throughout her testimony, she talked about the heroic efforts of her teachers and staff. She said how they "were not trained in combat" and their first instinct was "to protect their children."
"They were no match for a troubled young person with an AR-15," Robinson said.
Robinson was introduced by the recently-elected Elizabeth Esty, whose new district includes Newtown. There were also family members of victims of gun violence in California, at Virginia Tech and Tucson, AZ.
"You need to help us prevent another tragedy," Esty said.
Esty told those in attendance that she first met Robinson at the Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire Department, where the families of the school children were gathering.
"Janet was grieving," Esty said about Robinson. "She was there with parents of children, who didn't know if their children were going to come home."
By the time Robinson arrived at the firehouse, children were sent back home with their parents. After seeing some children were missing, she realized "the magnitude of this tragedy."
However, Esty said the superintendent spent the next day meeting with board of education members on ways for her children to move on and begin the healing process.
"She was putting Sandy Hook first," Esty said about the inaction of U.S. Congress.
Esty said Robinson would provide "expertise" to the committee to help them move forward and prevent another tragedy.
"I think we are going to see mothers, grandmothers and sisters standing up and saying we need to do better for our children," said Esty, who is one of the newest members of a special taskforce on gun violence. "The president was exactly right. This is about children."
Robinson explained how the "sense of security has been shattered" in Newtown.
"We are a community struggling to pick up the pieces and determine what this new normal looks like," she said.
Robinson ended her speech by explaining an online petition set up by a fourth-grader named Ava to change the gun laws. After getting support from around the United States, the petition had to be taken down because police were worried about the child's safety.
The student asked the federal government to ban semi-automatic weapons and large-capacity magazines for the people of Newtown.
"Semi-automatic weapons and large-capacity magazines end lives and put lives at risk," the student wrote in a letter to U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi. "This will prevent other communities from suffering like we are in Newtown."
Ava asked Pelosi and other members of Congress to visit the donation center and read some of the letters sent in.
"People against changing gun laws should walk through the long hallway and read one card out of every box to realize how many people want this changed," the letter stated. "We would all appreciate anything you can do."
Several members of the House and Senate were at Capitol Hill, even though the session has not started. Many of them told Eyewitness News they want to be a part of what is happening.
Any recommendations by the steering committee will be sent to House as early as next month.
Robinson has served as a superintendent in three school districts and has previously been a teacher, school counselor and school psychologist.
As for how her town will heal, Robinson had an answer for that.
"Newtown is a community that comes together and we are supporting one and another," she said. "And we are going to move forward."
Copyright 2013 WFSB (Meredith Corporation) (emphasis added)
http://www.wfsb.com/story/20604444/newtown-superintendent-of-schools-speaks-at-gun-violence-hearing [with embedded videos, and comments]
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EXCLUSIVE: Unmasking the NRA's Inner Circle
The NRA's shadowy leaders include the CEO who sells Bushmaster assault rifles and a top director who lives in Newtown
Jan. 16, 2013
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/nra-board-newtown-bushmaster [with comments]
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How the NRA exerts influence over Congress
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/nra-congress/ [with comments]
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Rick Perry Says Prayer, Not Gun Control, Will Keep American Children Safe From Violence
Texas Gov. Rick Perry said that prayer, not gun laws, is the best way to protect children from violence. Here, Perry addresses the opening session of the 83rd Texas Legislature, Tuesday, Jan. 8, in Austin, Texas.
(AP Photo/Eric Gay)
By Meredith Bennett-Smith
Posted: 01/16/2013 7:00 pm EST | Updated: 01/16/2013 9:10 pm EST
Gov. Rick Perry (R-Texas) has revealed his own plan for combating America's violence problem -- and it differs from President Barack Obama's on a key point. Specifically, the former presidential candidate said that instead of enacting tougher gun control legislation, Americans should simply pray for protections.
Obama unveiled new gun legislation Wednesday, recommending a host of Congressional measures [ http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/01/16/us/obama-gun-control-proposal.html ] supplemented by 23 executive actions [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/16/obama-executive-actions-_n_2488490.html ] to be carried out immediately.
The announcement, which may be the most sweeping effort to tighten laws in a generation [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/16/obama-gun-control-proposals_n_2486919.html ], marked the culmination of a month-long review process led by Vice President Joe Biden.
In his own statement, Perry acknowledged the problem of violence in the U.S. but said enacting tougher gun laws was not the right way to solve it [ http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Perry-pushes-prayer-not-legislation-to-fight-4199136.php ], the Houston Chronicle reports.
Perry said that there was "evil prowling" in the world that has appeared in television and movies, and then found its way into vulnerable minds.
As a free people, let us choose what kind of people we will be. Laws, the only redoubt of secularism, will not suffice. Let us all return to our places of worship and pray for help. Above all, let us pray for our children.
Perry also assailed the liberal media and politicians for attempting to use the Sandy Hook shooting for a political end "that would not have saved those children," according to the Chronicle.
This is not the first time the outspoken governor has launched rhetorical assaults on "secularism." In September, Perry unloaded a blistering attack against those who believe strongly in a separation of church and state [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/20/rick-perry-satan_n_1901280.html ].
"Satan runs across the world with his doubt and with his untruths and what have you, and one of the untruths out there that is driven -- is that people of faith should not be involved in the public arena," Perry said on a conference call with Rick Scarborough.
Perry's appreciation for prayer is also well-documented. He endorsed and helped organize a "Christian-only" prayer event in August 2011 [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/13/rick-perry-day-of-prayer_n_897451.html ] at Houston's Reliant Stadium that drew the ire of the Freedom from Religion Foundation organization.
This idea that prayer is the ultimate protection, even against guns, has been circulated among the conservative Christian community in the aftermath of the Newtown shooting.
Bryan Fischer, an executive with the American Family Association, said God did not protect the victims of one of the deadliest school shootings in American history because children and teachers were not allowed to pray for protection in the classroom [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/15/bryan-fischer-god-did-not-protect-connecticut-shooting-victims-prayer-banned_n_2303903.html ].
Copyright © 2013 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/16/rick-perry-claims-prayer-not-gun-control-keep-children-safe_n_2490672.html [with comments]
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Jefferson's Religious Freedom Statute: Setting the Groundwork for the Separation of Church and State
By J. Brent Walker
Posted: 01/16/2013 7:16 am
Jan. 16 is designated "Religious Freedom Day," commemorating the passage of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. Written by Thomas Jefferson and passed by the Virginia Assembly 226 years ago, the document formed the intellectual foundation and political foreshadowing for the First Amendment principles of religious liberty throughout the United States.
Religious liberty is often called our "first freedom," both because it is the first right ensured in the Bill of Rights and a widespread theological conviction that religious liberty is a gift from God.
The First Amendment has two religion clauses which protect that religious liberty, but by different means. The Establishment Clause ("Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion") keeps government from advancing or privileging any religion or religion in general. The second clause, the Free Exercise Clause ("or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"), keeps government from interfering with religious practice absent some paramount governmental interest such as peace, safety, or public health and welfare.
Jefferson's statute disestablished the Anglican Church in Virginia and served as a harbinger of the Establishment Clause when it provides: "to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical." It also foreshadowed the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause when it says: "no man shall be ... restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess ... their opinions in matters of Religion..." Jefferson's statute goes on to honor the "holy author of our religion" and acknowledges the "natural rights of mankind."
Historians tell us that religion in this country was at a low ebb between 1750 and 1790 -- at least when measured by church attendance (estimated to have been about 17 percent). After Jefferson's bill was adopted in Virginia and the Bill of Rights ratified by the entire country, weekly church attendance increased over the years. According to a recent Pew Forum survey, 36 percent of the United States general public attends worship services at least once a week, and only 16 percent of Americans say religion is not important in their life.
Some argue that the United States has become less religious over the years. Instead, I think we have become more religiously diverse and fluid. The First Amendment requires, and we should be happy to embrace, a "secular" government in the sense that it is prohibited from promoting religion or taking sides in religious disputes, favoring one over another. It should and must be neutral toward religion.
A secular government does not mean it is hostile to religion. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The institutional separation of church and state does not mean the segregation of religion from politics nor does it strip the right of people of faith to speak forcefully in the public square. It means only that government cannot pass laws that have a primary purpose or effect that advances religion. Religious speech in the public square and even some government venues is commonplace. Examples abound. One need only to look at Tuesday's planned Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service. The president, vice president, dignitaries and Americans of diverse faiths will gather to celebrate the inauguration through prayer, readings and musical performances. And at the inauguration itself, an invocation and benediction will be offered. That doesn't sound like religion is getting short shrift or that the public square is naked. Actually, it is dressed to the nines.
Yes, our culture can be crude and some people are indifferent or hostile to religion. But the answer is not to malign the separation of church and state, which would do away with religious freedom and give government the job of promoting religion. Jefferson's radical Virginia statute created a vital marketplace for religion that must be based on voluntary belief, not government assistance. It is for us -- people of faith and religious institutions, like the church -- to take up the task of making our religion winsome to the world and count on government to do no more than to protect our right to do so.
J. Brent Walker is executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.
Copyright © 2013 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/j-brent-walker/jeffersons-religious-freedom-statute-setting-groundwork-for-separation-of-church-and-state_b_2482131.html [with comments]
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Religious Leaders Take On The Gun Lobby
By Lauren Markoe
Posted: 01/16/2013 1:43 pm EST
WASHINGTON (RNS) Dozens of the nation's faith leaders said Tuesday (Jan. 15) that they're ready to take on the gun lobby and demanded that politicians take quick and concrete steps to stem gun violence.
At a Capitol Hill press conference and in a letter to Congress, more than 45 clergy and heads of religious groups -- representing the spectrum of American religious life -- petitioned lawmakers to reinstitute a ban on assault weapons, require background checks on all gun buyers, and make gun trafficking a federal crime.
Organized by the two-year-old coalition Faiths United To Prevent Gun Violence, the signers said the slayings at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school last month had pushed them to redouble their efforts, and created an opportunity to beat back the gun lobby.
The Rev. Jim Wallis, the evangelical who heads the progressive Christian group Sojourners, took on Wayne LaPierre, the outspoken executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, directly.
LaPierre's statement after Newtown that the "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun" is "morally mistaken" and "religiously repugnant," Wallis said.
"The world is not full of good and bad people. That is not what our scriptures teach us," but that each individual is both good and bad, Wallis said.
"And when we are bad or isolated or angry or furious or vengeful or politically agitated or confused or lost or deranged or unhinged, and we have the ability to get and use weapons only designed to kill large numbers of people," Wallis continued, "our society is in great danger."
The coalition is part of a larger movement, led by President Obama and some Democratic members of Congress, to tighten gun laws in the wake of the Newtown massacre and previous mass killings by lone gunmen in Aurora, Colo., Tuscon, Ariz., and elsewhere in the past several years.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll published on Jan. 14, a month after the Newtown massacre, found that 52 percent of Americans said the horror of Newtown had made them more supportive of gun control.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a gun control bill Tuesday and other state legislatures are also considering stricter gun regulations.
Others who signed the letter include: Carol Blythe, president of the Alliance of Baptists; Sister Carol Keehan, president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association; Sayyid M. Syeed of the Islamic Society of North America; Rajwant Singh, chairman of the Sikh Council on Religion and Education; and Suhag Shukla, executive director of the Hindu American Foundation.
Polls show that Americans generally favor the restrictions endorsed by the coalition even if their representatives in Congress may not, said Vincent DeMarco, national coordinator of Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence.
The Rev. J. Herbert Nelson II of the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s Washington office said people of faith must reframe the debate on gun control, and support "those of us who would challenge the false choice between guns and freedom."
The NRA, the most powerful of gun owners' rights groups, argues that any new restrictions on guns threaten the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
Nelson noted that more Americans have been killed in domestic gun violence than in foreign wars, and that the coalition had decided to speak out on the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., who would have been 84 on Tuesday.
"I am convinced if he were here today, this issue would be the priority of his leadership," Nelson said.
Rachel Laser, deputy director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, noted that King had deplored the proliferation of weapons in the United States before he himself was shot to death. She quoted King's words from 1963:
"By our readiness to allow arms to be purchased at will and fired at whim, by allowing our movie and television screens to teach our children that the hero is one who masters the art of shooting and the technique of killing . . . we have created an atmosphere in which violence and hatred have become popular pastimes," she quoted King.
"We are done sitting shocked on the sidelines," Laser said of the coalition.
But despite the pronouncements of religious leaders, gun rights supporters have refused to yield the moral high ground.
Larry Ward, chairman of Gun Appreciation Day, a national event slated for Jan. 19 to counter the current momentum toward more gun control, said it would also honor King.
"I think Martin Luther King would agree with me, if he were alive today, that if African-Americans had been given the right to keep and bear arms from day one of the country's founding, perhaps slavery would not have been a chapter in our history," Ward told CNN.
Copyright 2013 Religion News Service
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/16/religious-leaders-gun-lobby_n_2485886.html [with comments]
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Dalton Stidham Charged With Murder In Shooting Near Hazard Community And Technical College
Members of the Perry County Sheriff Office respond to the scene at Hazard Community College on Tuesday night, Jan. 15, 2012, after a shooting at the school in Hazard, Ky. Authorities say two people were shot and killed and a teen was wounded in the parking lot of the eastern Kentucky community college.
01/16/13 08:37 PM ET EST
HAZARD, Ky. -- A gunman enraged by a domestic dispute bought a gun and fatally shot his former girlfriend, her uncle and her cousin in the parking lot of a small southeastern Kentucky college, police said Wednesday.
The violence near the school Tuesday afternoon locked down the campus for more than an hour as police searched the two buildings of Hazard Community and Technical College in Hazard. The campus was closed Wednesday and will reopen Thursday.
Caitlin Cornett, 20, and her uncle Jackie Cornett, 53, were found dead at the scene when police arrived about 6 p.m. Tuesday, Hazard Police Chief Minor Allen said. Twelve-year-old Taylor Jade Cornett, who police said was shot multiple times, died Wednesday afternoon at University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, said Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn.
Dalton Stidham, 21, was charged Tuesday with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. The officer handling the case was not available Wednesday night to say whether the latter charge would be amended.
Allen said the shooting resulted from a dispute between Caitlin Cornett and Stidham.
A semiautomatic pistol that was found at the scene and believed to have been used in the shooting was purchased the same day at a local pawn shop, Allen said.
[...]
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/17/dalton-stidham-hazard-shooting_n_2494539.html [with comment]
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Murders, Shootings And Gun Sales Per Day: An Average Day In The United States
Police and emergency personal respond to a shooting victim at Stevens Institute of Business and Arts in St. Louis on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2013.
01/16/2013
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/16/murders-shootings-and-gun-sales-per-day_n_2488664.html [with comments]
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Full Transcript of Biden and Obama’s Remarks on Gun Laws
Video [embedded]
Obama Unveils Plan for Gun Laws: President Obama outlined his proposals to reduce gun violence in the United States, urging Congress to approve expanded background checks, a ban on assault weapons and other restrictions.
Document: White House Gun Proposals
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/01/16/us/politics/16white-house-gun-proposals-documents.html
Published: January 16, 2013
The following is the complete transcript of President Obama’s remarks on gun laws on Wednesday in Washington. (Transcript courtesy of Federal News Service [ http://www.fednews.com/ ].)
VICE PRESIDENT JOSEPH BIDEN: Please -- please be seated. Thank you.
Before -- before I begin today, let me say to the families of the innocents who were murdered 33 days ago, our heart -- our heart goes out to you. And you show incredible courage, incredible courage being here. And the president and I are going to do everything in our power to -- to honor the memory of your children and your wives with -- with the work we take up here today.
It’s been 33 days since the nation’s heart was broken by the horrific, senseless violence that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School, 20 -- 20 beautiful first-graders gunned down in a place that’s supposed to be their second sanctuary; six -- six members of the staff killed trying to save those children.
It’s literally been hard for the nation to comprehend, hard for the nation to fathom.
And I know for the families who are here, time is not measured in days but it’s measured in minutes, in seconds since you received that news: another minute without your daughter, another minute without your son, another minute without your wife, another minute without your mom.
I want to personally thank Chris and Lynn McDonnell, who lost a beautiful daughter, Grace, and the other parents who I had a chance to speak to for their suggestions for -- again, just for their -- the courage of all of you to -- to be here today. I -- I admire -- I admire the grace and the resolve that you all are showing.
And I must say I’ve been deeply affected by your faith as well, and the president and I are going to do everything to try to match the resolve you’ve demonstrated.
No one can know for certain if this senseless act could have been prevented, but we all know we have a moral obligation -- a moral obligation to do everything in our power to diminish the prospect that something like this could happen again.
As the president knows, I’ve worked in this field a long time in the United States Senate, having chaired a committee that had jurisdiction over these issues of guns and crime, and having drafted the first gun violence legislation -- the last gun violence legislation, I should say, and I have no illusions about we’re up against -- what we’re up against or how hard the task is in front of us.
But I also have never seen a nation’s conscience so shaken by what happened at Sandy Hook. The world has changed, and it’s demanding action.
It’s in this context that the president asked me to put together, along with Cabinet members, a set of recommendations about how we should proceed to meet that moral obligation we have. And toward that end, the Cabinet members and I sat down with 229 groups, not just individuals, representing groups -- 229 groups from law enforcement agencies to public health officials to gun officials to gun advocacy groups to sportsmen and hunters and religious leaders. And I’ve spoken with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, had extensive conversation with mayors and governors and county officials.
And the recommendations we provided to the president on Monday call for executive actions he could sign, legislation he could call for and long-term research that should be undertaken. They’re based on the emerging consensus we heard from all the groups with whom we spoke, including some of you who were the victims of this godawful occurrence, ways to keep guns out of the wrong hands as well as ways to take comprehensive action to prevent violence in the first place. We should do as much as we can as quickly as we can, and we cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
So some of what you will hear from the president will happen immediately. Some will take some time. But we have begun. And we are starting here today, and we’re resolved to continue this fight.
During the meetings that we held, we met with a young man who’s here today -- I think Colin Goddard is here. Where are you, Colin? Colin was one of the survivors of the -- the Virginia Tech massacre.
He was in the classroom. He calls himself one of the lucky seven. And -- and he’ll tell you he was shot four times on that day and he has three bullets that are still inside him.
And when I asked Colin about what he thought we should be doing, he said that -- he said, I’m not here because of what happened to me; I’m here because of -- what happened to me keeps happening to other people and we have to do something about it. Colin, we will. Colin, I promise you we will.
This is our intention. We must do what we can now. And there’s no person who is more committed to acting on this moral obligation we have than the president of the United States of America.
Ladies and gentlemen, President Barack Obama.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, everybody. Please -- please have a seat.
Good afternoon, everybody. Let me begin by thanking our vice president, Joe Biden, for your dedication, Joe, to this issue, for bringing so many different voices to the table, because while reducing gun violence is a complicated challenge, protecting our children from harm shouldn’t be a divisive one.
Now, over the month since the tragedy in Newtown, we’ve heard from so many, and obviously none have affected us more than the families of those gorgeous children and their teachers and guardians who -- who were lost. And so we’re grateful to all of you for taking the time to be here and recognizing that we honor their memories in part by doing everything we can to prevent this from happening again.
But we also heard from some unexpected people. In particular, I started getting a lot of letters from kids. Four of them are here today: Grant Fritz (ph), Julia Stokes (ph), Hena Zeha (ph) and Teja Goode (ph). They’re pretty representative of some of the messages that I got. These are some pretty smart letters from some pretty smart young people.
Hena (ph), a third-grader -- you can go ahead and wave, Hena (ph) -- that’s you -- (laughter) -- Hena (ph) wrote, I feel terrible for the parents who lost their children. I love my country, and I want everybody to be happy and safe.
And then Grant (sp) -- go ahead and wave, Grant (sp) -- (laughter) -- Grant (sp) said, I think there should be some changes. We should learn from what happened at Sandy Hook. I feel really bad.
And then Julia (sp) said -- Julia (sp), where are you -- there you go -- I’m not scared for my safety; I’m scared for others. I have four brothers and sisters, and I know I would not be able to bear the thought of losing any of them.
And these are our kids. This is what they’re thinking about.
And so what we should be thinking about is our responsibility to care for them and shield them from harm and give them the tools they need to grow up and do everything that they’re capable of doing, not just to pursue their own dreams but to help build this country. This is our first task as a society, keeping our children safe.
This is how we will be judged. And their voices should compel us to change.
And that’s why last month I asked Joe to lead an effort, along with members of my Cabinet, to come up with some concrete steps we can take right now to keep our children safe, to help prevent mass shootings, to reduce the broader epidemic of gun violence in this country.
And we can’t put this off any longer. Just last Thursday, as TV networks were covering one of Joe’s meetings on this topic, news broke of another school shooting, this one in California. In the month since 20 precious children and six brave adults were violently taken from us at Sandy Hook Elementary, more than 900 of our fellow Americans have reportedly died at the end of a gun -- 900 in the past month. And every day we wait, that number will keep growing.
So I’m putting forward a specific set of proposals based on the work of Joe’s task force. And in the days ahead I intend to use whatever weight this office holds to make them a reality, because while there is no law or set of laws that can prevent every senseless act of violence completely, no piece of legislation that will prevent every tragedy, every act of evil, if there is even one thing we can do to reduce this violence, if there’s even one life that can be saved, then we’ve got an obligation to try.
And I’m going to do my part. As soon as I’m finished speaking here, I will sit at that desk and I will sign a directive giving law enforcement, schools, mental health professionals and the public health community some of the tools they need to help reduce gun violence. We will make it easier to keep guns out of the hands of criminals by strengthening the background check system. We will help schools hire more resource officers, if they want them, and develop emergency preparedness plans. We will make sure mental health professionals know their options for reporting threats of violence, even as we acknowledge that someone with a mental illness is far more likely to be a victim of violent crime than the perpetrator.
And while year after year those who oppose even modest gun safety measures have threatened to de-fund scientific or medical research into the causes of gun violence, I will direct the Centers for Disease Control to go ahead and study the best ways to reduce it. And Congress should fund research into the effects that violent video games have on young minds. We don’t benefit from ignorance. We don’t benefit from not knowing the science of this epidemic of violence.
Now, these are a few of the 23 executive actions that I’m announcing today, but as important as these steps are, they are in no way a substitute for action from members of Congress. To make a real and lasting difference, Congress too must act, and Congress must act soon. And I’m calling on Congress to pass some very specific proposals right away.
First, it’s time for Congress to require a universal background check for anyone trying to buy a gun.
(Applause.) The law already requires licensed gun dealers to run background checks, and over the last 14 years, that’s kept 1.5 million of the wrong people from getting their hands on a gun. But it’s hard to enforce that law when as many as 40 percent of all gun purchases are conducted without a background check. That’s not safe; that’s not smart; that’s not fair to responsible gun buyers or sellers.
If you want to buy a gun, whether it’s from a licensed dealer or a private seller, you should at least have to show you are not a felon or somebody legally prohibited from buying one. This is common sense. And an overwhelming majority of Americans agree with us on the need for universal background checks, including more than 70 percent of the National Rifle Association’s members, according to one survey. So there’s no reason we can’t do this.
Second, Congress should restore a ban on military-style assault weapons and a 10-round limit for magazines. (Applause.) The type of assault rifle used in Aurora, for example, when paired with high- capacity magazines, has one purpose: to pump out as many bullets as possible as quickly as possible, to do as much damage using bullets often designed to inflict maximum damage. And that’s what allowed the gunman in Aurora to shoot 70 people -- 70 people, killing 12, in a matter of minutes.
Weapons designed for the theater of war have no place in a movie theater.
A majority of Americans agree with us on this.
And by the way, so did Ronald Reagan, one of the staunchest defenders of the Second Amendment, who wrote to Congress in 1994 urging them -- this is Ronald Reagan speaking -- urging them to listen to the American public and to the law enforcement community and support a ban on the further manufacture of military-style assault weapons. (Applause.)
And finally, Congress needs to help rather than hinder law enforcement as it does its job. We should get tougher on people who buy guns with the express purpose of turning around and selling them to criminals. And we should severely punish anybody who helps them do this.
Since Congress hasn’t confirmed a director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in six years, they should confirm Todd Jones, who will be -- who has been acting and I will be nominating for the post. (Applause.)
And at a time when budget cuts are forcing many communities to reduce their police force, we should put more cops back on the job and back on our streets.
And let me be absolutely clear. Like most Americans, I believe the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms. I respect our strong tradition of gun ownership and the rights of hunters and sportsmen. There are millions of responsible, law-abiding gun owners in America who cherish their right to bear arms for hunting or sport or protection or collection.
I also believe most gun owners agree that we can respect the Second Amendment while keeping an irresponsible, law-breaking few from inflicting harm on a massive scale. I believe most of them agree that if America worked harder to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people, there would be fewer atrocities like the one that occurred in Newtown.
That’s what these reforms are designed to do. They’re common- sense measures. They have the support of the majority of the American people.
And yet that doesn’t mean any of this is going to be easy to enact or implement. If it were, we’d already have universal background checks. The ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines never would have been allowed to expire. More of our fellow Americans might still be alive, celebrating birthdays and anniversaries and graduations.
This will be difficult. There will be pundits and politicians and politicians and special interest lobbyists publicly warning of a tyrannical all-out assault on liberty, not because that’s true but because they want to gin up fear or higher ratings or revenue for themselves. And behind the scenes they’ll do everything they can to block any common-sense reform and make sure nothing changes whatsoever.
The only way we will be able to change is if their audience, their constituents, their membership says, this time must be different, that this time we must do something to protect our communities and our kids.
I will put everything I’ve got into this, and so will Joe. But I tell you, the only way we can change is if the American people demand it.
And by the way, that doesn’t just mean from certain parts of the country. We’re going to need voices in those areas, in those congressional districts where the tradition of gun ownership is strong to speak up and to say this is important. It can’t just be the usual suspects.
We have to examine ourselves in our hearts and ask ourselves what is important. This will not happen unless the American people demand it. If parents and teachers, police officers and pastors, if hunters and sportsmen, if responsible gun owners, if Americans of every background stand up and say, enough, we suffered too much pain and care too much about our children to allow this to continue, then change will -- change will come. That’s what it’s going to take.
You know, on the letter that Julia (sp) wrote me, she said, I know that laws have to be passed by Congress, but I beg you to try very hard. (Laughter.) Julia (sp), I will try very hard. But she’s right. The most important changes we can make depend on congressional action. They need to bring these proposals up for a vote, and the American people need to make sure that they do.
Get them on record. Ask your member of Congress if they support universal background checks to keep guns out of the wrong hands. Ask them if they support renewing a ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. And if they say no, ask them why not.
Ask them what’s more important, doing whatever it takes to get a -- a “A” grade from the gun lobby that funds their campaigns, or giving parents some peace of mind when they drop their child off for first grade? (Applause.)
This is the land of the free, and it always will be. As Americans, we are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights that no man or government can take away from us. But we’ve also long recognized, as our founders recognized, that with rights come responsibilities. Along with our freedom to live our lives as we will comes an obligation to allow others to do the same. We don’t live in isolation. We live in a society, a government of and by and for the people. We are responsible for each other.
You know, the right to worship freely and faithfully, that right was denied to Sikhs in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. The right to assemble peaceively (sp), that right was denied shoppers in Clackamas, Oregon and moviegoers in Aurora, Colorado. That most fundamental set of rights -- to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness -- fundamental rights that were denied to college students at Virginia Tech and high school students at Columbine and elementary school students in Newtown, and kids on street corners in Chicago on too frequent a basis to tolerate, and all the families who’ve never imagined that they’d lose a loved one to a bullet, those rights are at stake. We’re responsible.
You know, when I visited Newtown last month, I spent some private time with many of the families who lost their children that day, and one was the family of Grace McDonnell. Grace’s parents are here. Grace was 7 years old when she was struck down, just a gorgeous, caring, joyful little girl. I’m told she loved pink. She loved the beach. She dreamed of becoming a painter.
And so just before I left, Chris, her father, gave me one of her paintings, and I hung it in my private study just off the Oval Office. And every time I look at that painting, I think about Grace and I think about the life that she lived and the life that lay ahead of her, and most of all, I think about how when it comes to protecting the most vulnerable among us, we must act now for Grace, for the 25 other innocent children and devoted educators who had so much left to give, for the men and women in big cities and small towns who fall victim to senseless violence each and every day, for all the Americans who are counting on us to keep them safe from harm.
Let’s do the right thing. Let’s do the right thing for them and for this country that we love so much. (Applause.)
Thank you. (Sustained applause.) I’m going to sign these orders. (Sustained applause.)
Copyright © 2013 by Federal News Service, LLC
*
Related
Obama Calls for Broad Action on Guns (January 17, 2013)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/us/politics/obama-to-ask-congress-to-toughen-gun-laws.html
N.R.A. Attacks Obama in Video (January 17, 2013)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/us/politics/nra-attacks-obama-in-video.html
The Lede Blog: Updates on the Gun Violence Debate (January 16, 2013)
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/16/updates-on-the-gun-violence-debate-5/
*
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/16/us/politics/full-transcript-of-biden-and-obamas-remarks-on-gun-laws.html [ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/16/us/politics/full-transcript-of-biden-and-obamas-remarks-on-gun-laws.html?pagewanted=all ]
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By Joseph Wenzel
Posted: Jan 16, 2013 1:19 PM CST Updated: Jan 16, 2013 7:39 PM CST
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WFSB) - The superintendent of schools for Newtown testified at a gun violence hearing at Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. on Wednesday afternoon.
Janet Robinson spoke in front of the Steering and Policy Committee, which is co-chaired by U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro.
On Dec. 14, Adam Lanza shot and killed his mother at their home, then went to Sandy Hook Elementary School and killed 26 children and adults.
"I'm here to give a face to the children, the staff and the families of Sandy Hook," Robinson said at the beginning of her testimony
Robinson vividly described what happened on Dec. 14 and explained that the day started "like every other morning."
"Sandy Hook Elementary seemed like the safest place in this suburban community," she said.
Throughout her testimony, she talked about the heroic efforts of her teachers and staff. She said how they "were not trained in combat" and their first instinct was "to protect their children."
"They were no match for a troubled young person with an AR-15," Robinson said.
Robinson was introduced by the recently-elected Elizabeth Esty, whose new district includes Newtown. There were also family members of victims of gun violence in California, at Virginia Tech and Tucson, AZ.
"You need to help us prevent another tragedy," Esty said.
Esty told those in attendance that she first met Robinson at the Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire Department, where the families of the school children were gathering.
"Janet was grieving," Esty said about Robinson. "She was there with parents of children, who didn't know if their children were going to come home."
By the time Robinson arrived at the firehouse, children were sent back home with their parents. After seeing some children were missing, she realized "the magnitude of this tragedy."
However, Esty said the superintendent spent the next day meeting with board of education members on ways for her children to move on and begin the healing process.
"She was putting Sandy Hook first," Esty said about the inaction of U.S. Congress.
Esty said Robinson would provide "expertise" to the committee to help them move forward and prevent another tragedy.
"I think we are going to see mothers, grandmothers and sisters standing up and saying we need to do better for our children," said Esty, who is one of the newest members of a special taskforce on gun violence. "The president was exactly right. This is about children."
Robinson explained how the "sense of security has been shattered" in Newtown.
"We are a community struggling to pick up the pieces and determine what this new normal looks like," she said.
Robinson ended her speech by explaining an online petition set up by a fourth-grader named Ava to change the gun laws. After getting support from around the United States, the petition had to be taken down because police were worried about the child's safety.
The student asked the federal government to ban semi-automatic weapons and large-capacity magazines for the people of Newtown.
"Semi-automatic weapons and large-capacity magazines end lives and put lives at risk," the student wrote in a letter to U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi. "This will prevent other communities from suffering like we are in Newtown."
Ava asked Pelosi and other members of Congress to visit the donation center and read some of the letters sent in.
"People against changing gun laws should walk through the long hallway and read one card out of every box to realize how many people want this changed," the letter stated. "We would all appreciate anything you can do."
Several members of the House and Senate were at Capitol Hill, even though the session has not started. Many of them told Eyewitness News they want to be a part of what is happening.
Any recommendations by the steering committee will be sent to House as early as next month.
Robinson has served as a superintendent in three school districts and has previously been a teacher, school counselor and school psychologist.
As for how her town will heal, Robinson had an answer for that.
"Newtown is a community that comes together and we are supporting one and another," she said. "And we are going to move forward."
Copyright 2013 WFSB (Meredith Corporation) (emphasis added)
http://www.wfsb.com/story/20604444/newtown-superintendent-of-schools-speaks-at-gun-violence-hearing [with embedded videos, and comments]
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EXCLUSIVE: Unmasking the NRA's Inner Circle
The NRA's shadowy leaders include the CEO who sells Bushmaster assault rifles and a top director who lives in Newtown
Jan. 16, 2013
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/01/nra-board-newtown-bushmaster [with comments]
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How the NRA exerts influence over Congress
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/nra-congress/ [with comments]
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Rick Perry Says Prayer, Not Gun Control, Will Keep American Children Safe From Violence
Texas Gov. Rick Perry said that prayer, not gun laws, is the best way to protect children from violence. Here, Perry addresses the opening session of the 83rd Texas Legislature, Tuesday, Jan. 8, in Austin, Texas.
(AP Photo/Eric Gay)
By Meredith Bennett-Smith
Posted: 01/16/2013 7:00 pm EST | Updated: 01/16/2013 9:10 pm EST
Gov. Rick Perry (R-Texas) has revealed his own plan for combating America's violence problem -- and it differs from President Barack Obama's on a key point. Specifically, the former presidential candidate said that instead of enacting tougher gun control legislation, Americans should simply pray for protections.
Obama unveiled new gun legislation Wednesday, recommending a host of Congressional measures [ http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/01/16/us/obama-gun-control-proposal.html ] supplemented by 23 executive actions [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/16/obama-executive-actions-_n_2488490.html ] to be carried out immediately.
The announcement, which may be the most sweeping effort to tighten laws in a generation [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/16/obama-gun-control-proposals_n_2486919.html ], marked the culmination of a month-long review process led by Vice President Joe Biden.
In his own statement, Perry acknowledged the problem of violence in the U.S. but said enacting tougher gun laws was not the right way to solve it [ http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Perry-pushes-prayer-not-legislation-to-fight-4199136.php ], the Houston Chronicle reports.
Perry said that there was "evil prowling" in the world that has appeared in television and movies, and then found its way into vulnerable minds.
As a free people, let us choose what kind of people we will be. Laws, the only redoubt of secularism, will not suffice. Let us all return to our places of worship and pray for help. Above all, let us pray for our children.
Perry also assailed the liberal media and politicians for attempting to use the Sandy Hook shooting for a political end "that would not have saved those children," according to the Chronicle.
This is not the first time the outspoken governor has launched rhetorical assaults on "secularism." In September, Perry unloaded a blistering attack against those who believe strongly in a separation of church and state [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/20/rick-perry-satan_n_1901280.html ].
"Satan runs across the world with his doubt and with his untruths and what have you, and one of the untruths out there that is driven -- is that people of faith should not be involved in the public arena," Perry said on a conference call with Rick Scarborough.
Perry's appreciation for prayer is also well-documented. He endorsed and helped organize a "Christian-only" prayer event in August 2011 [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/13/rick-perry-day-of-prayer_n_897451.html ] at Houston's Reliant Stadium that drew the ire of the Freedom from Religion Foundation organization.
This idea that prayer is the ultimate protection, even against guns, has been circulated among the conservative Christian community in the aftermath of the Newtown shooting.
Bryan Fischer, an executive with the American Family Association, said God did not protect the victims of one of the deadliest school shootings in American history because children and teachers were not allowed to pray for protection in the classroom [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/15/bryan-fischer-god-did-not-protect-connecticut-shooting-victims-prayer-banned_n_2303903.html ].
Copyright © 2013 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/16/rick-perry-claims-prayer-not-gun-control-keep-children-safe_n_2490672.html [with comments]
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Jefferson's Religious Freedom Statute: Setting the Groundwork for the Separation of Church and State
By J. Brent Walker
Posted: 01/16/2013 7:16 am
Jan. 16 is designated "Religious Freedom Day," commemorating the passage of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. Written by Thomas Jefferson and passed by the Virginia Assembly 226 years ago, the document formed the intellectual foundation and political foreshadowing for the First Amendment principles of religious liberty throughout the United States.
Religious liberty is often called our "first freedom," both because it is the first right ensured in the Bill of Rights and a widespread theological conviction that religious liberty is a gift from God.
The First Amendment has two religion clauses which protect that religious liberty, but by different means. The Establishment Clause ("Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion") keeps government from advancing or privileging any religion or religion in general. The second clause, the Free Exercise Clause ("or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"), keeps government from interfering with religious practice absent some paramount governmental interest such as peace, safety, or public health and welfare.
Jefferson's statute disestablished the Anglican Church in Virginia and served as a harbinger of the Establishment Clause when it provides: "to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves is sinful and tyrannical." It also foreshadowed the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause when it says: "no man shall be ... restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess ... their opinions in matters of Religion..." Jefferson's statute goes on to honor the "holy author of our religion" and acknowledges the "natural rights of mankind."
Historians tell us that religion in this country was at a low ebb between 1750 and 1790 -- at least when measured by church attendance (estimated to have been about 17 percent). After Jefferson's bill was adopted in Virginia and the Bill of Rights ratified by the entire country, weekly church attendance increased over the years. According to a recent Pew Forum survey, 36 percent of the United States general public attends worship services at least once a week, and only 16 percent of Americans say religion is not important in their life.
Some argue that the United States has become less religious over the years. Instead, I think we have become more religiously diverse and fluid. The First Amendment requires, and we should be happy to embrace, a "secular" government in the sense that it is prohibited from promoting religion or taking sides in religious disputes, favoring one over another. It should and must be neutral toward religion.
A secular government does not mean it is hostile to religion. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The institutional separation of church and state does not mean the segregation of religion from politics nor does it strip the right of people of faith to speak forcefully in the public square. It means only that government cannot pass laws that have a primary purpose or effect that advances religion. Religious speech in the public square and even some government venues is commonplace. Examples abound. One need only to look at Tuesday's planned Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service. The president, vice president, dignitaries and Americans of diverse faiths will gather to celebrate the inauguration through prayer, readings and musical performances. And at the inauguration itself, an invocation and benediction will be offered. That doesn't sound like religion is getting short shrift or that the public square is naked. Actually, it is dressed to the nines.
Yes, our culture can be crude and some people are indifferent or hostile to religion. But the answer is not to malign the separation of church and state, which would do away with religious freedom and give government the job of promoting religion. Jefferson's radical Virginia statute created a vital marketplace for religion that must be based on voluntary belief, not government assistance. It is for us -- people of faith and religious institutions, like the church -- to take up the task of making our religion winsome to the world and count on government to do no more than to protect our right to do so.
J. Brent Walker is executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.
Copyright © 2013 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/j-brent-walker/jeffersons-religious-freedom-statute-setting-groundwork-for-separation-of-church-and-state_b_2482131.html [with comments]
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Religious Leaders Take On The Gun Lobby
By Lauren Markoe
Posted: 01/16/2013 1:43 pm EST
WASHINGTON (RNS) Dozens of the nation's faith leaders said Tuesday (Jan. 15) that they're ready to take on the gun lobby and demanded that politicians take quick and concrete steps to stem gun violence.
At a Capitol Hill press conference and in a letter to Congress, more than 45 clergy and heads of religious groups -- representing the spectrum of American religious life -- petitioned lawmakers to reinstitute a ban on assault weapons, require background checks on all gun buyers, and make gun trafficking a federal crime.
Organized by the two-year-old coalition Faiths United To Prevent Gun Violence, the signers said the slayings at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school last month had pushed them to redouble their efforts, and created an opportunity to beat back the gun lobby.
The Rev. Jim Wallis, the evangelical who heads the progressive Christian group Sojourners, took on Wayne LaPierre, the outspoken executive vice president of the National Rifle Association, directly.
LaPierre's statement after Newtown that the "the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun" is "morally mistaken" and "religiously repugnant," Wallis said.
"The world is not full of good and bad people. That is not what our scriptures teach us," but that each individual is both good and bad, Wallis said.
"And when we are bad or isolated or angry or furious or vengeful or politically agitated or confused or lost or deranged or unhinged, and we have the ability to get and use weapons only designed to kill large numbers of people," Wallis continued, "our society is in great danger."
The coalition is part of a larger movement, led by President Obama and some Democratic members of Congress, to tighten gun laws in the wake of the Newtown massacre and previous mass killings by lone gunmen in Aurora, Colo., Tuscon, Ariz., and elsewhere in the past several years.
A Washington Post-ABC News poll published on Jan. 14, a month after the Newtown massacre, found that 52 percent of Americans said the horror of Newtown had made them more supportive of gun control.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a gun control bill Tuesday and other state legislatures are also considering stricter gun regulations.
Others who signed the letter include: Carol Blythe, president of the Alliance of Baptists; Sister Carol Keehan, president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association; Sayyid M. Syeed of the Islamic Society of North America; Rajwant Singh, chairman of the Sikh Council on Religion and Education; and Suhag Shukla, executive director of the Hindu American Foundation.
Polls show that Americans generally favor the restrictions endorsed by the coalition even if their representatives in Congress may not, said Vincent DeMarco, national coordinator of Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence.
The Rev. J. Herbert Nelson II of the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s Washington office said people of faith must reframe the debate on gun control, and support "those of us who would challenge the false choice between guns and freedom."
The NRA, the most powerful of gun owners' rights groups, argues that any new restrictions on guns threaten the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
Nelson noted that more Americans have been killed in domestic gun violence than in foreign wars, and that the coalition had decided to speak out on the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., who would have been 84 on Tuesday.
"I am convinced if he were here today, this issue would be the priority of his leadership," Nelson said.
Rachel Laser, deputy director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, noted that King had deplored the proliferation of weapons in the United States before he himself was shot to death. She quoted King's words from 1963:
"By our readiness to allow arms to be purchased at will and fired at whim, by allowing our movie and television screens to teach our children that the hero is one who masters the art of shooting and the technique of killing . . . we have created an atmosphere in which violence and hatred have become popular pastimes," she quoted King.
"We are done sitting shocked on the sidelines," Laser said of the coalition.
But despite the pronouncements of religious leaders, gun rights supporters have refused to yield the moral high ground.
Larry Ward, chairman of Gun Appreciation Day, a national event slated for Jan. 19 to counter the current momentum toward more gun control, said it would also honor King.
"I think Martin Luther King would agree with me, if he were alive today, that if African-Americans had been given the right to keep and bear arms from day one of the country's founding, perhaps slavery would not have been a chapter in our history," Ward told CNN.
Copyright 2013 Religion News Service
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/16/religious-leaders-gun-lobby_n_2485886.html [with comments]
===
Dalton Stidham Charged With Murder In Shooting Near Hazard Community And Technical College
Members of the Perry County Sheriff Office respond to the scene at Hazard Community College on Tuesday night, Jan. 15, 2012, after a shooting at the school in Hazard, Ky. Authorities say two people were shot and killed and a teen was wounded in the parking lot of the eastern Kentucky community college.
01/16/13 08:37 PM ET EST
HAZARD, Ky. -- A gunman enraged by a domestic dispute bought a gun and fatally shot his former girlfriend, her uncle and her cousin in the parking lot of a small southeastern Kentucky college, police said Wednesday.
The violence near the school Tuesday afternoon locked down the campus for more than an hour as police searched the two buildings of Hazard Community and Technical College in Hazard. The campus was closed Wednesday and will reopen Thursday.
Caitlin Cornett, 20, and her uncle Jackie Cornett, 53, were found dead at the scene when police arrived about 6 p.m. Tuesday, Hazard Police Chief Minor Allen said. Twelve-year-old Taylor Jade Cornett, who police said was shot multiple times, died Wednesday afternoon at University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, said Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn.
Dalton Stidham, 21, was charged Tuesday with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. The officer handling the case was not available Wednesday night to say whether the latter charge would be amended.
Allen said the shooting resulted from a dispute between Caitlin Cornett and Stidham.
A semiautomatic pistol that was found at the scene and believed to have been used in the shooting was purchased the same day at a local pawn shop, Allen said.
[...]
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/17/dalton-stidham-hazard-shooting_n_2494539.html [with comment]
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Murders, Shootings And Gun Sales Per Day: An Average Day In The United States
Police and emergency personal respond to a shooting victim at Stevens Institute of Business and Arts in St. Louis on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2013.
01/16/2013
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/16/murders-shootings-and-gun-sales-per-day_n_2488664.html [with comments]
===
Full Transcript of Biden and Obama’s Remarks on Gun Laws
Video [embedded]
Obama Unveils Plan for Gun Laws: President Obama outlined his proposals to reduce gun violence in the United States, urging Congress to approve expanded background checks, a ban on assault weapons and other restrictions.
Document: White House Gun Proposals
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/01/16/us/politics/16white-house-gun-proposals-documents.html
Published: January 16, 2013
The following is the complete transcript of President Obama’s remarks on gun laws on Wednesday in Washington. (Transcript courtesy of Federal News Service [ http://www.fednews.com/ ].)
VICE PRESIDENT JOSEPH BIDEN: Please -- please be seated. Thank you.
Before -- before I begin today, let me say to the families of the innocents who were murdered 33 days ago, our heart -- our heart goes out to you. And you show incredible courage, incredible courage being here. And the president and I are going to do everything in our power to -- to honor the memory of your children and your wives with -- with the work we take up here today.
It’s been 33 days since the nation’s heart was broken by the horrific, senseless violence that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School, 20 -- 20 beautiful first-graders gunned down in a place that’s supposed to be their second sanctuary; six -- six members of the staff killed trying to save those children.
It’s literally been hard for the nation to comprehend, hard for the nation to fathom.
And I know for the families who are here, time is not measured in days but it’s measured in minutes, in seconds since you received that news: another minute without your daughter, another minute without your son, another minute without your wife, another minute without your mom.
I want to personally thank Chris and Lynn McDonnell, who lost a beautiful daughter, Grace, and the other parents who I had a chance to speak to for their suggestions for -- again, just for their -- the courage of all of you to -- to be here today. I -- I admire -- I admire the grace and the resolve that you all are showing.
And I must say I’ve been deeply affected by your faith as well, and the president and I are going to do everything to try to match the resolve you’ve demonstrated.
No one can know for certain if this senseless act could have been prevented, but we all know we have a moral obligation -- a moral obligation to do everything in our power to diminish the prospect that something like this could happen again.
As the president knows, I’ve worked in this field a long time in the United States Senate, having chaired a committee that had jurisdiction over these issues of guns and crime, and having drafted the first gun violence legislation -- the last gun violence legislation, I should say, and I have no illusions about we’re up against -- what we’re up against or how hard the task is in front of us.
But I also have never seen a nation’s conscience so shaken by what happened at Sandy Hook. The world has changed, and it’s demanding action.
It’s in this context that the president asked me to put together, along with Cabinet members, a set of recommendations about how we should proceed to meet that moral obligation we have. And toward that end, the Cabinet members and I sat down with 229 groups, not just individuals, representing groups -- 229 groups from law enforcement agencies to public health officials to gun officials to gun advocacy groups to sportsmen and hunters and religious leaders. And I’ve spoken with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, had extensive conversation with mayors and governors and county officials.
And the recommendations we provided to the president on Monday call for executive actions he could sign, legislation he could call for and long-term research that should be undertaken. They’re based on the emerging consensus we heard from all the groups with whom we spoke, including some of you who were the victims of this godawful occurrence, ways to keep guns out of the wrong hands as well as ways to take comprehensive action to prevent violence in the first place. We should do as much as we can as quickly as we can, and we cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
So some of what you will hear from the president will happen immediately. Some will take some time. But we have begun. And we are starting here today, and we’re resolved to continue this fight.
During the meetings that we held, we met with a young man who’s here today -- I think Colin Goddard is here. Where are you, Colin? Colin was one of the survivors of the -- the Virginia Tech massacre.
He was in the classroom. He calls himself one of the lucky seven. And -- and he’ll tell you he was shot four times on that day and he has three bullets that are still inside him.
And when I asked Colin about what he thought we should be doing, he said that -- he said, I’m not here because of what happened to me; I’m here because of -- what happened to me keeps happening to other people and we have to do something about it. Colin, we will. Colin, I promise you we will.
This is our intention. We must do what we can now. And there’s no person who is more committed to acting on this moral obligation we have than the president of the United States of America.
Ladies and gentlemen, President Barack Obama.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, everybody. Please -- please have a seat.
Good afternoon, everybody. Let me begin by thanking our vice president, Joe Biden, for your dedication, Joe, to this issue, for bringing so many different voices to the table, because while reducing gun violence is a complicated challenge, protecting our children from harm shouldn’t be a divisive one.
Now, over the month since the tragedy in Newtown, we’ve heard from so many, and obviously none have affected us more than the families of those gorgeous children and their teachers and guardians who -- who were lost. And so we’re grateful to all of you for taking the time to be here and recognizing that we honor their memories in part by doing everything we can to prevent this from happening again.
But we also heard from some unexpected people. In particular, I started getting a lot of letters from kids. Four of them are here today: Grant Fritz (ph), Julia Stokes (ph), Hena Zeha (ph) and Teja Goode (ph). They’re pretty representative of some of the messages that I got. These are some pretty smart letters from some pretty smart young people.
Hena (ph), a third-grader -- you can go ahead and wave, Hena (ph) -- that’s you -- (laughter) -- Hena (ph) wrote, I feel terrible for the parents who lost their children. I love my country, and I want everybody to be happy and safe.
And then Grant (sp) -- go ahead and wave, Grant (sp) -- (laughter) -- Grant (sp) said, I think there should be some changes. We should learn from what happened at Sandy Hook. I feel really bad.
And then Julia (sp) said -- Julia (sp), where are you -- there you go -- I’m not scared for my safety; I’m scared for others. I have four brothers and sisters, and I know I would not be able to bear the thought of losing any of them.
And these are our kids. This is what they’re thinking about.
And so what we should be thinking about is our responsibility to care for them and shield them from harm and give them the tools they need to grow up and do everything that they’re capable of doing, not just to pursue their own dreams but to help build this country. This is our first task as a society, keeping our children safe.
This is how we will be judged. And their voices should compel us to change.
And that’s why last month I asked Joe to lead an effort, along with members of my Cabinet, to come up with some concrete steps we can take right now to keep our children safe, to help prevent mass shootings, to reduce the broader epidemic of gun violence in this country.
And we can’t put this off any longer. Just last Thursday, as TV networks were covering one of Joe’s meetings on this topic, news broke of another school shooting, this one in California. In the month since 20 precious children and six brave adults were violently taken from us at Sandy Hook Elementary, more than 900 of our fellow Americans have reportedly died at the end of a gun -- 900 in the past month. And every day we wait, that number will keep growing.
So I’m putting forward a specific set of proposals based on the work of Joe’s task force. And in the days ahead I intend to use whatever weight this office holds to make them a reality, because while there is no law or set of laws that can prevent every senseless act of violence completely, no piece of legislation that will prevent every tragedy, every act of evil, if there is even one thing we can do to reduce this violence, if there’s even one life that can be saved, then we’ve got an obligation to try.
And I’m going to do my part. As soon as I’m finished speaking here, I will sit at that desk and I will sign a directive giving law enforcement, schools, mental health professionals and the public health community some of the tools they need to help reduce gun violence. We will make it easier to keep guns out of the hands of criminals by strengthening the background check system. We will help schools hire more resource officers, if they want them, and develop emergency preparedness plans. We will make sure mental health professionals know their options for reporting threats of violence, even as we acknowledge that someone with a mental illness is far more likely to be a victim of violent crime than the perpetrator.
And while year after year those who oppose even modest gun safety measures have threatened to de-fund scientific or medical research into the causes of gun violence, I will direct the Centers for Disease Control to go ahead and study the best ways to reduce it. And Congress should fund research into the effects that violent video games have on young minds. We don’t benefit from ignorance. We don’t benefit from not knowing the science of this epidemic of violence.
Now, these are a few of the 23 executive actions that I’m announcing today, but as important as these steps are, they are in no way a substitute for action from members of Congress. To make a real and lasting difference, Congress too must act, and Congress must act soon. And I’m calling on Congress to pass some very specific proposals right away.
First, it’s time for Congress to require a universal background check for anyone trying to buy a gun.
(Applause.) The law already requires licensed gun dealers to run background checks, and over the last 14 years, that’s kept 1.5 million of the wrong people from getting their hands on a gun. But it’s hard to enforce that law when as many as 40 percent of all gun purchases are conducted without a background check. That’s not safe; that’s not smart; that’s not fair to responsible gun buyers or sellers.
If you want to buy a gun, whether it’s from a licensed dealer or a private seller, you should at least have to show you are not a felon or somebody legally prohibited from buying one. This is common sense. And an overwhelming majority of Americans agree with us on the need for universal background checks, including more than 70 percent of the National Rifle Association’s members, according to one survey. So there’s no reason we can’t do this.
Second, Congress should restore a ban on military-style assault weapons and a 10-round limit for magazines. (Applause.) The type of assault rifle used in Aurora, for example, when paired with high- capacity magazines, has one purpose: to pump out as many bullets as possible as quickly as possible, to do as much damage using bullets often designed to inflict maximum damage. And that’s what allowed the gunman in Aurora to shoot 70 people -- 70 people, killing 12, in a matter of minutes.
Weapons designed for the theater of war have no place in a movie theater.
A majority of Americans agree with us on this.
And by the way, so did Ronald Reagan, one of the staunchest defenders of the Second Amendment, who wrote to Congress in 1994 urging them -- this is Ronald Reagan speaking -- urging them to listen to the American public and to the law enforcement community and support a ban on the further manufacture of military-style assault weapons. (Applause.)
And finally, Congress needs to help rather than hinder law enforcement as it does its job. We should get tougher on people who buy guns with the express purpose of turning around and selling them to criminals. And we should severely punish anybody who helps them do this.
Since Congress hasn’t confirmed a director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in six years, they should confirm Todd Jones, who will be -- who has been acting and I will be nominating for the post. (Applause.)
And at a time when budget cuts are forcing many communities to reduce their police force, we should put more cops back on the job and back on our streets.
And let me be absolutely clear. Like most Americans, I believe the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to bear arms. I respect our strong tradition of gun ownership and the rights of hunters and sportsmen. There are millions of responsible, law-abiding gun owners in America who cherish their right to bear arms for hunting or sport or protection or collection.
I also believe most gun owners agree that we can respect the Second Amendment while keeping an irresponsible, law-breaking few from inflicting harm on a massive scale. I believe most of them agree that if America worked harder to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people, there would be fewer atrocities like the one that occurred in Newtown.
That’s what these reforms are designed to do. They’re common- sense measures. They have the support of the majority of the American people.
And yet that doesn’t mean any of this is going to be easy to enact or implement. If it were, we’d already have universal background checks. The ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines never would have been allowed to expire. More of our fellow Americans might still be alive, celebrating birthdays and anniversaries and graduations.
This will be difficult. There will be pundits and politicians and politicians and special interest lobbyists publicly warning of a tyrannical all-out assault on liberty, not because that’s true but because they want to gin up fear or higher ratings or revenue for themselves. And behind the scenes they’ll do everything they can to block any common-sense reform and make sure nothing changes whatsoever.
The only way we will be able to change is if their audience, their constituents, their membership says, this time must be different, that this time we must do something to protect our communities and our kids.
I will put everything I’ve got into this, and so will Joe. But I tell you, the only way we can change is if the American people demand it.
And by the way, that doesn’t just mean from certain parts of the country. We’re going to need voices in those areas, in those congressional districts where the tradition of gun ownership is strong to speak up and to say this is important. It can’t just be the usual suspects.
We have to examine ourselves in our hearts and ask ourselves what is important. This will not happen unless the American people demand it. If parents and teachers, police officers and pastors, if hunters and sportsmen, if responsible gun owners, if Americans of every background stand up and say, enough, we suffered too much pain and care too much about our children to allow this to continue, then change will -- change will come. That’s what it’s going to take.
You know, on the letter that Julia (sp) wrote me, she said, I know that laws have to be passed by Congress, but I beg you to try very hard. (Laughter.) Julia (sp), I will try very hard. But she’s right. The most important changes we can make depend on congressional action. They need to bring these proposals up for a vote, and the American people need to make sure that they do.
Get them on record. Ask your member of Congress if they support universal background checks to keep guns out of the wrong hands. Ask them if they support renewing a ban on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. And if they say no, ask them why not.
Ask them what’s more important, doing whatever it takes to get a -- a “A” grade from the gun lobby that funds their campaigns, or giving parents some peace of mind when they drop their child off for first grade? (Applause.)
This is the land of the free, and it always will be. As Americans, we are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights that no man or government can take away from us. But we’ve also long recognized, as our founders recognized, that with rights come responsibilities. Along with our freedom to live our lives as we will comes an obligation to allow others to do the same. We don’t live in isolation. We live in a society, a government of and by and for the people. We are responsible for each other.
You know, the right to worship freely and faithfully, that right was denied to Sikhs in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. The right to assemble peaceively (sp), that right was denied shoppers in Clackamas, Oregon and moviegoers in Aurora, Colorado. That most fundamental set of rights -- to life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness -- fundamental rights that were denied to college students at Virginia Tech and high school students at Columbine and elementary school students in Newtown, and kids on street corners in Chicago on too frequent a basis to tolerate, and all the families who’ve never imagined that they’d lose a loved one to a bullet, those rights are at stake. We’re responsible.
You know, when I visited Newtown last month, I spent some private time with many of the families who lost their children that day, and one was the family of Grace McDonnell. Grace’s parents are here. Grace was 7 years old when she was struck down, just a gorgeous, caring, joyful little girl. I’m told she loved pink. She loved the beach. She dreamed of becoming a painter.
And so just before I left, Chris, her father, gave me one of her paintings, and I hung it in my private study just off the Oval Office. And every time I look at that painting, I think about Grace and I think about the life that she lived and the life that lay ahead of her, and most of all, I think about how when it comes to protecting the most vulnerable among us, we must act now for Grace, for the 25 other innocent children and devoted educators who had so much left to give, for the men and women in big cities and small towns who fall victim to senseless violence each and every day, for all the Americans who are counting on us to keep them safe from harm.
Let’s do the right thing. Let’s do the right thing for them and for this country that we love so much. (Applause.)
Thank you. (Sustained applause.) I’m going to sign these orders. (Sustained applause.)
Copyright © 2013 by Federal News Service, LLC
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Related
Obama Calls for Broad Action on Guns (January 17, 2013)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/us/politics/obama-to-ask-congress-to-toughen-gun-laws.html
N.R.A. Attacks Obama in Video (January 17, 2013)
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/us/politics/nra-attacks-obama-in-video.html
The Lede Blog: Updates on the Gun Violence Debate (January 16, 2013)
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/16/updates-on-the-gun-violence-debate-5/
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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/16/us/politics/full-transcript-of-biden-and-obamas-remarks-on-gun-laws.html [ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/16/us/politics/full-transcript-of-biden-and-obamas-remarks-on-gun-laws.html?pagewanted=all ]
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Greensburg, KS - 5/4/07
"Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty."
from John Philpot Curran, Speech
upon the Right of Election, 1790
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