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发帖数: 12623 | 1 The White House and gun control supporters are gearing up for a whirlwind
month, with plans to pass reform legislation before outrage over the Sandy
Hook massacre has a chance to fade.
While the fiscal cliff has dominated Washington’s attention in recent weeks
, lawmakers and activists are laying the groundwork for their big push. Vice
President Joe Biden, tasked with heading a commission to investigate gun
violence, has been quietly meeting with experts, interest groups, and public
officials and is expected to release a set of recommendations within weeks.
Boston mayor Thomas Menino, co-chair of Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against
Illegal Guns, told the Boston Herald this week that an optimistic Biden had
assured him that Obama would sign legislation “by the end of January.”
“We had been led to believe their report would come by end of January, but
we’re hearing they may want to have something out by January 15, even
quicker than expected,” Mark Glaze, director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns
, told TPM.
House Democrats are moving ahead with their own plans as well. On Friday,
Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA), chair of the newly created Gun Violence
Prevention Task Force, announced the appointment of 12 vice chairs,
including Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), the body’s leading voice on gun
control. According to a Democratic aide, the group plans to release its
recommendations in early February and is already organizing public hearings
on the issue.
Obama has personally identified an assault weapons ban and limits on
ammunition magazine size as top priorities. Other possible reforms could
include background check requirements for purchases at gun shows, a loophole
that’s helped create a huge market of off-record arms purchases.
Pro-gun groups have dominated Congress in recent years and, while lawmakers
approved by the National Rifle Association have mostly kept their heads down
in recent weeks, any legislation could face an difficult path to passage,
or even a vote, especially in the Republican-led House.
Glaze said his group would work hard to build public support, hosting local
events with various mayors, dozens of whom will descend on Washington later
this month for The United States Conference of Mayors winter gathering.
Gun violence survivors are also planning trips to lobby lawmakers to support
legislation. Former Rep. Gabby Giffords, who survived a mass shooting in
2011, could play a prominent role in that regard: on Wednesday she met with
Bloomberg in New York and on Friday traveled to Newtown to comfort families
who lost loved ones in the attack there.
But Glaze acknowledged the NRA has long held an advantage not only in its
cash resources, but in its large and active grassroots membership, which has
rallied in the past to whip members of Congress against gun control bills.
For gun control advocates, they’ll have to offer a compelling case that
lawmakers who squelch reforms will pay a price in the midterm elections and
that means building their own active network of supporters. Glaze is
confident they can do so, citing recent polls showing restrictions on
extended ammunition clips and an expansion of background checks to be
popular nationally.
“The broad solutions are there and if Congress doesn’t act I think they're
going to be digging themselves further into a big hole,” he said.
The Brady Campaign, the gun control group founded by former Ronald Reagan
press secretary Jim Brady, is also expected to play a role in promoting
legislation, but it’s an open question whether they can compete with the
NRA’s experienced leadership. TPM reached out to the group’s staff in
recent days for information on its plans, but received no response. | t**********3
发帖数: 12623 | 2 民猪们这葫芦里到底是什么药，所有人都清楚，他们挂羊头卖狗肉不是一天两天了，这
群婊子就是要立着反对非法枪支的牌坊来干全面禁枪的勾当。 |
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