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Democrats, Republicans are split on stricter gun control
412-320-7900Staff Reporter
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
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By Mike Wereschagin
Published: Tuesday, December 18, 2012, 12:01 a.m.
Updated: Tuesday, December 18, 2012
West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin joined a growing chorus of Democrats, including several in Pennsylvania, who say the country needs to tighten gun laws in response to the mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school.
But Republicans say that before passing any laws, Congress needs to learn more about what happened on Friday, when Connecticut State Police say Adam Lanza shot 27 people and himself, including 20 first-graders in Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown. Police say he killed the children with a semi-automatic rifle similar to the military's M-16.
“I just don't understand the civilian use for semiautomatic weapons, or these clips that hold 30 rounds. That's not how you hunt deer,” said Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills. Doyle said he supports reinstating a ban on military-style rifles that expired in 2004. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who wrote the 1994 ban, said on Sunday she plans to reintroduce it.
“If this young man went into his mother's house and all she had was a six-shooter and a hunting rifle, there would not have been this many dead,” Doyle said.
Connecticut's gun laws made it illegal for him to possess the weapons he used, said Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair. Police say he got the guns — a Bushmaster rifle and two semiautomatic pistols — from his mother after killing her.
“What wasn't being addressed was ... his mental illness. I don't want to get distracted” by gun control, said Murphy, a former child psychologist who treats military members suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Untreated mental illness has been the thread in mass shootings from Virginia Tech, where a gunman in 2007 shot and killed 32 people and wounded 17, to Newtown, he said. “That is the key feature.”
Manchin and Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, both National Rifle Association-endorsed Democrats, swung their support to reinstating the weapons ban. Rep. Bob Brady, D-Philadelphia, said Congress should go further by requiring more extensive background checks, closing the so-called gun show loophole — which allows people to buy guns at shows without a background check — and restricting gun purchases to one a month.
Guns such as the Bushmaster rifle don't “belong in anybody's hands unless they've got a uniform on and they're fighting for the United States,” Brady said.
President Obama, at a prayer vigil in Newtown on Sunday, pledged to “use whatever power this office holds” to prevent mass shootings, but neither he nor press secretary Jay Carney talked about specific steps Obama would support.
Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Butler, said it's too soon for specific proposals.
The shooting “has sparked a national debate about gun rights, the culture of violence our children are routinely exposed to and mental health treatment in America,” Kelly said.
“We need to review all of the facts surrounding this horrendous act of violence and continue to have an informed discussion about ways to prevent another devastating attack on innocent American lives.”
Others, including Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Hazleton, want a broader look at violence in general.
“We should look at every possibility, including violence in movies, on television and in video games. We need to look at how we address mental health issues,” Barletta said.
Mike Wereschagin is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7900 or mwereschagin@tribweb.com.
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Metal health issues should be the first issue looked at. If a person does not respond to or gets off treatment, commitment is the only answerw
Submitted by: m on Tuesday, December 18, 2012
If this young man went into his mother‘s house and all she had was a six-shooter and a hunting rifle, there would not have been this many dead,” Doyle said. Congressman Doyle, You have no clue what you're talking about here. I think before you make statements such as the one above you better do some homework. Handguns today aren't 6 shooters. They are semi automatic and hold approx 13 rounds and you can have additional clips. But lets step back to your mentality and use six shooters assuming that's all were going to have. Six shooters also have fast load dumpsters for quick loading also for speed. Using your mentality, someone could go into the same scenario in CT. and only using a handgun or two, by the time Police officers arrive and get some sort of handle on the situation you could do more damage than what was done in CT. Police are trained NOT to rush into a situation like that especially not knowing how many shooters there actually are. So trust me, someone could have literally wiped out half of the students with less gun power. Grand stand while you can but get your facts straight and use logic, most will appreciate it more rather than grabbing headlines off of a huge tragedy.
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