Helmke: Sensible gun laws can help save livesONLY ON THE BLOG: Joining us to answer six OFF-SET questions is Paul Helmke, who has served as president of the Brady Campaign and the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence since mid-July 2006. The group is the nation’s largest national, non-partisan, grassroots organization leading the fight to prevent gun violence.  Prior to this, Helmke was a lawyer in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he served as mayor from 1988-2000. He was president of the United States Conference of Mayors in 1997-1998 and was a Board member for the National League of Cities. The Brady Campaign works to pass and enforce what it calls “sensible federal and state gun laws, regulations, and public policies.” The suspect, Jared Lee Loughner, is in custody and there are reports that the handgun used in the shooting was obtained legally. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) appeared on CNN yesterday and indicated that no amount of laws restricting gun ownership could stop a person "bent on performing evil acts to kill another person.” Do you believe laws or regulations that might have prevented what happened in Tucson? While we will never be able to stop all violence, there is no reason we should make it so easy for dangerous and irresponsible people to get weapons that help them kill a lot of people so quickly. Sensible gun laws can help save lives. For example, if Congress had not allowed the 1994 "Assault Weapon Ban" to expire in 2004, the Tucson killer would not have been able to buy ammunition clips holding more than 10 rounds for his gun. He could still have injured a lot of people, but having fewer bullets to shoot before having to pause to reload would have meant fewer people killed and injured. Similarly, if the information that led the military to reject the shooter's application to enlist, his college to suspend him for psychiatric problems, and his classmates to call him "very disturbed" had been enough to make him a "prohibited purchaser" under federal law, it would have been harder for the shooter to get his gun. You first met Rep. Giffords in 2006 and she is known as a strong supporter of Second Amendment rights. Did you talk about guns with her then–or later? Congresswoman Giffords and I did discuss gun issues when I first met her in 2006. She told me that she was a gun owner and supported the Second Amendment, but she stressed that she supported reasonable restrictions on access to guns. In particular, she mentioned that she had taken a leadership role in the Arizona Legislature for restrictions on semi-automatic "assault weapons." In The Huffington Post, you wrote, “Shortly after President Obama took office, the head of the NRA crowed that ‘the guys with the guns make the rules;’ participants in Congressional forums and Presidential events started carrying guns in public; and then, just last year a candidate for U.S. Senate said the citizens unhappy with elections results should consider exercising their "Second Amendment remedies" and Sarah Palin used gun ‘target’ metaphors encouraging voters to defeat Rep. Giffords and others.” How concerned are you about the tone of political rhetoric today? Words have consequences. Political rhetoric can inspire people – hopefully to do good things, but sometimes to do bad things. Some individuals may hear the talk about guns, unresponsive or illegitimate officials, and governmental tyranny and respond by getting their guns and shooting someone. In just the last few years, prior to the Tucson shootings, we've seen police officers, mayors and city officials, soldiers, and guards at governmental buildings targeted because of their official roles. Inflammatory rhetoric plus easy access to guns is a recipe for violence. Does the NRA ever work with the Brady Center to make it harder for convicted felons, the dangerously mentally ill, and other prohibited persons to obtain guns? I have asked the NRA leaders to sit down and see if we can find common ground on gun issues. They refuse to meet or talk. After the Virginia Tech massacre, they joined with the Brady Campaign to support legislation proposed by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy to get more records of "prohibited purchasers" into the Brady Background Check database, but they seemed to be doing this only because of the public anger over the gaps in the law that allowed the Virginia Tech shooter to pass his background check because of missing records. I'm willing to meet with them at any time or place to see what we can do to reduce gun violence in this country. During your first month as mayor of Fort Wayne, Indiana, you started receiving death threats which your Police Department considered to be very credible. Did you consider purchasing a gun at that time? (Did you ever own one?) I have never considered purchasing or owning a gun. I am familiar with guns – I got my NRA marksmanship badges at camp when I was young and I have fired guns at the police range when I was mayor. But I never felt that having a gun would make me safer – and as a father with two young daughters when I was mayor, I knew the risks involved in having a gun around the house. I took threats against me seriously, but never wanted them to keep me from walking neighborhoods in my city and meeting with constituents around the city. We can't live our lives in a constant state of fear. Jim Brady was an Assistant to President Ronald Reagan and his White House Press Secretary. On March 30, 1981, John Hinckley, a mentally deranged young man, attempted to assassinate the President, and shot both President Reagan, Brady, and two law enforcement officers. Brady suffered a serious head wound that left him partially paralyzed for life. How is Jim doing today and how does he react each time guns are in the news due to tragic events? The Tucson shootings hit Jim and Sarah Brady close to home. Again, an elected official and staff are hit by bullets. Again, a person struggles to survive a bullet to the head. Jim has been in a wheelchair now for nearly 30 years. He has good days and bad day. In addition to the constant physical and emotional toll of the shooting on Jim, I know he suffers too because of the lack of progress in reducing gun violence in this country. The shooting in Tucson brought Jim to tears on Saturday - he was reminded of what happened in March 1981 in DC, and he felt directly the pain that all the families in Tucson were, and would be, experiencing for the rest of their lives. And he knew that similar shootings and feelings of loss are experienced every day in this country. See the statement of Jim and Sarah Brady– click here. NOTE: We tried to send questions to Wayne LaPierre, Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Rifle Association of America. UPDATE: We received this message on 1-10-11 from the NRA public affairs office, "We respectfully decline. At this time anything other than prayers for the victims and their families would be inappropriate." |
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The problem is the definition of "sensible". To those opposed to our right to keep and bear arms the only sensible solution is to ban all guns or the guns they FEEL are the threat. I don't buy that.
Let's hope that Americans retain their sanity and don't have a "knee-jerk" reaction to things like this. There are over 300,000,000 people in this country and things like this are bound to happen. They are obviously extremely unfortunate but there is absolutely no way of stopping them. Many more people get hit by lightning each year; does this mean that we should all stay indoors? Well, it doesn't mean that we should forfeit our most prized possession, our rights, either!
People that want gun control are a minority and don't know what they are talking about. The assault weapons ban would not have made any difference. We will not give a inch to the gun control people because they will take a mile from use. Assault weapons ban, NEVER AGAIN.
Jared Lee proves that a legal gun owner can still be of sound mind, and yet go on a shooting rampage.
Loughner successfully reloaded his pistol twice. A woman nearby took Loughnet's third magazine (NOT A CLIP) away from him while he was trying to reload. Loughner was carrying four magazines.
Loughner was never adjudicated as mentally defective in a court of law.
Stricter laws on mental health and magazine capacity would not have prevented Loughner from killing anyone. However, an armed citizen nearby may have. An unarmed woman prevented his third reload. An armed citizen might have prevented his fourth, and all subsequent shots...
P.S. Clips are for M1 Garands, 303 Enfields, SKS rifles, and other top-loading firearms. Detachable box magazines are what are used in the majority of pistols and rifles of modern design. If you're going to advocate for the ban of an item, at least know what the item is.
Paul Helmke repeats an untruth he has used many times before in stating that "high capacity" magazines were illegal between 1994 & 2004.
The manufacture & import of NEW magazines capable of holding more than ten rounds was proscribed, which had no effect whatsoever on the millions of magazines produced or imported before then.
Perhaps Mr Helmke ought to be taken to task over his repeated economising on the facts....
It is time to get the guns – a quote from President Bartlett on West Wing We need an amendment to the 2nd amendment on the right to bear arms as follows: To get a license to purchase any automatic weapon, any other weapon that can be converted to an automatic weapon, or any weapon that contains more than 12 single shots, the applicant should be required to have a psychiatric evaluation test to eliminate any applicants that have psychiatric problems. The applicants should be required to annually be retested. The cost of the tests should be borne totally by the applicant. This will not stop all attacks with guns, but it will limit the possibility of an imbalanced person having access to an automatically fired weapon where the most damage can be done. When ammunition for an automatic weapon is being purchased the buyer must show he has a valid up to date license and has been tested. This amendment will not prevent anyone from his legal right to bear arms, only that he must be licensed to carry an automatic weapon. We can call this the Gifford Weapons Amendment.
This amendment will save lives-maybe even a Senator,a Congressman or a President.
Wow, you take an idea you saw on Television as your "solution".
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is how your typical gun control advocate comes up with their beliefs. They have seen it on TV so they think it is a good idea.
I have an even better idea. We take a poll. Those in favor of gun control get out of this country, their plane tickets and the paperwork involved with renouncing their US Citizenship be placed on them. Don't like the idea Mr Abrahams? Think it is unfair to restrict someone who has not commited a crime? Don't give the abuse to firearm owners then.
We have over 20,000 laws on the books now. Laws don't PREVENT illegal acts. What might have helped (in this case) would have been to (a) identify this young man as unbalanced , and (b) get that into the NICs system, to prevent the sale Federal and State Governments have been dragging their feet getting the State- and local-level information into the database. If you're going to bother to do a NICs check , you might want to bother to get the latest information on
domestic abusers and psychologically-troubled prohibited persons.
Mr. Helmke asserts that a smaller magazine would have forced the shooter to reload. My answer to that is that , if an honest citizen , concealed carrying , were there , the guy wouldn't need to reload.
In reality, deranged individuals fear only failure , which is why they focus on "Gun-Free Zones" - in EVERY area where concealed carry is legal , crime rates have dropped, and I've never read of a mass homicide in a gun shop.
The magazine size limitation wouldn't do as much good as a better Mental Health system.
I was a truck driver for many years, and to be able to keep my CDL license I needed to get a medical doctor to give me a physical and fill out a paper saying that I was physically fit and able to drive the big rigs. So my question is, why can't the government have gun owners do the same thing? They should have to be evaluated by a professional, and, or take a test every so often so that they can own or purchase weapons. We have to do that even to drive a car. Even if it only weeded out a few, wouldn't it be worth it?
Murder and aggravated assault are illegal so, why not just enforce the current laws?
Paul and the Brady Bunch are already dancing in the blood at Tucson. Already using it to beg funding. They did the same thing after VaTech. They are NOT people I would want to be associated with!
A licensing system isn't needed, what your saying wouldn't help prevent this . Youstart with a licensing system them for some reason it will get harder and harder to pass because I'm sure they won't be happy with just that. If we taught every citizen about firearms in school then we'd have 12 years of examination from teachers and piers , which before they can even legally buy one at 18 they had somewhat of enough time to determine it . If it's ok for them to show kids STD videos and pictures , because for some reason that's appropriate to show kids then they can teach them the dangers of playing with guns as toys. Teach them respect , it's what our grandfathers had was pride and respect .
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