WASHINGTON
(AP) -- Democratic lawmakers and independent Sen. Joe Lieberman said
Sunday that military-style assault weapons should be banned and that a
national commission should be established to examine mass shootings in
the United States.
The proposals were among
the first to come from Congress in the wake of Friday's school shooting
in Newtown, Conn. Gun rights activists remained largely quiet on the
issue, all but one declining to appear on the Sunday talk shows.
Meanwhile, Democrats vowed action and said it was time to hear from
voters - not gun lobbyists - on how to prevent the next shooting.
The
time for "saying that we can't talk about the policy implications of
tragedies like this is over," said Rep. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., who won a
Senate seat in the November elections.
President
Barack Obama and Senate Democrats haven't pushed for new gun controls
since rising to power in the 2008 national elections. Outspoken
advocates for stricter laws, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, say that's
because of the powerful sway of the National Rifle Association.
But
advocates also say the latest shooting is a tipping point that could
change the dynamic of the debate dramatically. Feinstein, D-Calif., said
she will propose legislation next year that would ban big clips, drums
and strips of more than 10 bullets.
"It can be done," she said Sunday of reviving the 10-year ban that expired in 2004.
New
York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Obama could use executive powers to
enforce existing gun laws, as well as throw his weight behind
legislation like Feinstein's.
"It's time for
the president, I think, to stand up and lead and tell this country what
we should do - not go to Congress and say, `What do you guys want to
do?'" Bloomberg said.
Lieberman, an
independent from Connecticut who is retiring, supports such a ban but
said there should also be a national commission to scrutinize gun laws
and loopholes, as well as the nation's mental health system and the role
that violent video games and movies might play in shootings. Senate
Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois said he would support such a
panel, adding that it was time for a "national discussion" that included
school safety.
"This conversation has been
dominated in Washington by - you know and I know - gun lobbies that have
an agenda" Durbin said. "We need people, just ordinary Americans, to
come together, and speak out, and to sit down and calmly reflect on how
far we go."
Congress has frequently turned to
independent bipartisan commissions to try to solve the nation's worst
problems, including the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Iraq war and the
failing economy. But ultimately, lawmakers are often reluctant to act on
the recommendations of outsiders, especially if they think it will cost
them support in their home states.
Still,
Lieberman defended the idea of a national commission as the only way to
ensure that the "heartbreak and anger" of the Connecticut shooting
doesn't dissipate over time and that other factors beyond gun control
are considered.
"We've got to continue to hear
the screams of these children and see their blood until we do something
to try to prevent this from happening again," he said.
Gun
rights advocates appeared reluctant to make their case against tougher
gun laws while Connecticut families and the nation were still in the
earliest stages of grieving. David Gregory, the host of "Meet the
Press," said NBC invited all 31 "pro-gun" senators to appear on Sunday's
show, and all 31 declined. All eight Republicans on the Senate
Judiciary Committee were unavailable or unwilling to appear on CBS'
"Face the Nation," host Bob Schieffer said.
Rep.
Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, was the sole representative of gun rights'
activists on the various Sunday talk shows. In an interview on "Fox News
Sunday," Gohmert defended the sale of assault weapons and said that the
principal at Sandy Hook Elementary School, who authorities say died
trying to overtake the shooter, should herself have been armed.
"I
wish to God she had an M-4 in her office, locked up so when she
heard gunfire, she pulls it out and she didn't have to lunge heroically
with nothing in her hands. But she takes him (the shooter) out, takes
his head off before he can kill those precious kids," Gohmert said.
Gohmert also argued that violence is lower in cities with lax gun laws, and higher in cities with stricter laws.
"The
facts are that every time guns have been allowed -conceal-carry (gun
laws) have been allowed - the crime rate has gone down," Gohmert said.
Gun
control advocates say that isn't true. A study by the California-based
Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence determined that seven of the 10
states with the strongest gun laws - including Connecticut,
Massachusetts and California - are also among the 10 states with the
lowest gun death rates.
"If you look at the
states with the strongest gun laws in the country, they have some of the
lowest gun death rates, and some of the states with the weakest gun
laws have some of the highest gun death rates," said Brian Malte of the
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
Murphy
spoke on ABC's "This Week." Lieberman, Durbin and Gohmert spoke on "Fox
News Sunday." Bloomberg and Feinstein spoke on NBC's "Meet the Press."
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
