GUN CONTROL FACES A STIFF BATTLE
By: Hope Wilkos, Writer/Blogger Photographer: George Whylie Videographer: Maxine NolanGun control is on the minds of Americans and it seems to be the burning issue on Capitol Hill as Democrats and Republicans in the Senate will convene this week to discuss, debate and vote on a gun control proposal.
In an unprecedented first, President Obama did not give his weekly address on Saturday, April 13, 2013 but instead, one of the mothers of a young victim of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting took to the airwaves to call for commonsense gun responsibility reforms. Francine Wheeler lost her six year-old son, Ben, on that day in December. His energetic personality lit up a room and he always looked up to his older brother.
Violent shootings are one of the leading causes of death in the United States today and it simply cannot go on. It is a tragedy that no family should have to endure. The Senate must pass reforms to protect our children and our communities. Now is the time to help make this a moment of real change. Wheeler emotionally recounted some of the qualities that made Ben such a gift to her family and so close to her heart. She urged Americans to talk to their Senator and visit www.WhiteHouse.gov to find out how to join the President and get involved.
President Obama has been traveling to promote his platform for stricter gun control laws since he vowed in that auditorium on that dismal evening in December that something would be done to help prevent tragedies such as the Sandy Hook school shooting. As a breakthrough today, a gun-rights group, splitting from the National Rifle Association, endorsed a bipartisan compromise known as the Manchin-Toomey compromise, after a Democratic and Republican Senator in the Senate, to expand background checks.
Expanding background checks to firearms sales at gun shows and on the Internet are the issues that will be debated and discussed this week on the Hill. Gabby Giffords , former member of the Congress, will take part as well urging for stricter gun control rules. Giffords is an example of a brave survivor herself who sustained a gunshot wound to the head in 2011 while she was delivering a speech to her constituents at a supermarket near Tucson, Arizona. Others were not so lucky and were fatalities of that dreadful day. Now she too is adamant that preventative change must take place.
President Obama also proposes limits set on high capacity magazines and assault weapon bans but most analysts feel that there is too much discourse to make it through the Senate.
Sadly, there will be open debate on the proposals on the table this coming week and the discussions could ensue throughout the week and possibly far into future weeks before any legislation is passed.
PHOTO CREDITS: WhiteHouse.gov, ABCNews.com, Alamy, Washington Post
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