This morning, the Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony from witnesses on both sides of the gun divide who were there to answer the question: âWhat Should America Do About Gun Violence?â
Former Rep. Gabriel Giffords (R-AZ), who was shot in the head by a deranged gunman at a political gathering near Tucson in 2011, opened the hearing with an impassioned plea for gun control.
âSpeaking is difficult but I need to say something important,â Giffords said. âToo many children are dying. Â We must do something. It will be hard, but the time is now. You must act. Be courageous, Americans are counting on you.â
Also in attendance was Giffordsâ husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, who gave his own testimony on the matter.
Kelly spoke about high-capacity magazines and how the gunman who shot Giffords emptied his 30-plus round magazines in 15 seconds, âcausing 33 woundsâ (EDIT TO ADD: hitting 19 people) including a fatal wound to a nine-year-old girl.
He then touted the importance of universal background checks, saying âI canât think of something that would make our country safer than doing just that.â
NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre, who was one of the pro-gun voices at the hearing, shot down the notion that an assault weapons ban or universal background checks would curb gun-related violence.
LaPierre argued that the measures in President Obamaâs proposal, many of which have been drafted into bills that are now before Congress, âonly serve to burden the law-abiding [and] have failed in the past and will fail in the future.â
At one point during the hearing, the chairman of the committee, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) asked LaPierre point blank about universal background checks: Should we have mandatory background checks for private sales? Yes or No?
The NRA chief talked around the point blaming the federal government for not enforcing current laws, until he was forced to give a yes or no answer. LaPierre said, âI do not believe the way the law is working now, unfortunately, that it does any good to extend the law to private sales between hobbyists and collectors.â
âOk. So you do not support mandatory background checks in all instances at gun shows?â Leahy asked.
LaPierre replied, âWe do not because the fact is the law right now is a failure the way itâs working. The fact is you have 76,000 some people that have been denied under the present law, only 44 were prosecuted â youâre letting them go, theyâre walking the streets.â
Backing this position was law professor David Kopel, Research Director of the Independence Institute (Guns.com interviewed Prof. Kopel in the past) who stated that, âuniversal background checks can only be enforceable if there is universal gun registration.â
âRegistration,â Prof. Kopel added, âpaves the way for gun confiscation.â
Kopel also stressed the importance of having armed personnel in schools, arguing the best way to save lives was to have âlawful armed self-defense in the schools, not only by armed guard but also by teachers.â
Overall, universal background checks and a ban on high-capacity magazines seemed to be the primary focus of the hearing. There was only tepid support for Sen. Dianne Feinsteinâs Assault Weapons Ban.
Given the waning interest in her bill among the speakers at the Wednesday hearing, Sen. Feinstein wants to assemble her own panel and hold her own hearing on âmilitary-style assaultâ weapons.
âIâm concerned and registered my concern with Sen. Leahy yesterday, that the witnesses are skewed to the anti-gun [control], anti-assault weapons [ban] position,â Feinstein told POLITICO. âHe agreed that I would be able to do my own hearing on the assault weapons legislation which I will proceed to do.â
Despite what appears to be overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Feinstein believes her AWB has a chance of passing through the Senate.
âI believe we have the votes on the Democratic side to pass out the bill,â Feinstein said.
When I heard about the Walther PDP-F, I was immediately intrigued. A compact pistol designed for small hands? Sign me up. Here are my thoughts after owning the PDP-F for one year.
Walther's PPQ 22 M2 pistol chambered for .22 LR offers fantastic ergonomics in an affordable package that's great for plinking, target shooting, and training.
Backed by the quality reputation that comes with Swiss manufacturing, the B&T GHM45 pistol-caliber sub gun is the perfect candidate for your next suppressed pistol.
Texas-based Bond Arms builds some of the finest derringers in the world, so we knew it would be a treat to shoot this single-shot, break-action Cyclops chambered in the walloping .45-70 Government.