McCarthy To Propose Ban On High-Capacity Ammo

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) talks to Steve Inskeep about a gun control proposal she hopes to introduce this week in response to the shootings in Arizona. The gun recovered had a "high capacity" magazine that held at least 30 bullets. McCarthy has experiences the effects of gun violence firsthand. Her husband was killed, and her son wounded, in a shooting spree on the Long Island Railroad in 1993.

RENEE MONTAGNE, host:

It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.

STEVE INSKEEP, host:

And I'm Steve Inskeep.

The shootings in Tucson, Arizona have prompted a call for a change to gun laws.

MONTAGNE: Representative Carolyn McCarthy wants to make that change. A gunman killed her husband and wounded her son on the Long Island railroad back in 1993, and McCarthy was elected to Congress as an advocate for gun control.

INSKEEP: In Saturday's shooting, the gunman fired a Glock semiautomatic pistol. The Democratic representative is focusing not on the weapon here but on the magazine, which held at least 30 bullets.

Let's review some history so that we have this clear. In the 1990s, an assault weapons ban was passed in the United States. After a decade, it expired in 2004. The magazine that was used over the weekend would've been illegal during that decade, but, of course, it is quite legal now. Is that correct?

Representative CAROLYN MCCARTHY (Democrat, New York): That's correct. A clip can carry anywhere from 10 bullets, all the way up to 33, depending on the manufacturer.

INSKEEP: And so you want legislation that specifically targets that kind of magazine, not actually the weapons themselves?

Rep. MCCARTHY: No. The weapons in themselves - number one, I have to look at, you know, what can actually pass in Congress and have it signed by the president. The House and the Senate are pro-gun houses. So with that being said, I have to find something that will be reasonable to the majority of the members so that we can cut down.

You have to understand, with the large amounts of bullets that were held in the magazine he was able to spray and shoot, unfortunately, an awful lot of very innocent victims.

INSKEEP: It's interesting that you mention that the House and Senate, as you describe them, are pro-gun right now. The Democratic Party has, I think it's fair to say, has very much quieted down or backed off its efforts at gun control in recent years. Doesn't that suggest that there is just not the kind of political support that there might once have been for measures like the kind you are advocating here?

Rep. MCCARTHY: Well, you're absolutely right. But I did pass legislation after the Virginia Tech shooting, which President Bush did sign. I was able to get it through the House and the Senate, you know. With my history, unfortunately, with my family suffering through gun violence, it's something that I feel passionately about, that even though the odds are certainly always uphill, that doesn't mean that I will stop fighting to try to change that.

INSKEEP: As you know, there are Republicans, as well as Democrats, who have signed onto stricter background checks of various kinds when people go to legally purchase weapons. Why do you feel that that is now not enough?

Rep. MCCARTHY: Well, it's not enough, mainly because people on the outside, let's say for a gun show, there are many people that go to gun shows and buy guns off private people and don't go through any background checks. So, I mean, even though there are laws out there, there are always ways that you need to look at and how do you fine tune it.

INSKEEP: What would you say to gun rights supporters who may be listening to you and feeling that you're politicizing this rather extreme tragedy to push the bill that you're describing?

Rep. MCCARTHY: No. that's absolutely not true. I've been working on gun issues for the last 14 years, since I've been in Congress. This is something I'm passionate about, as much as they are passionate about say their Second Amendment rights.

We're not dealing about guns here. We're dealing about a piece of equipment that goes to the gun. I think when you think about just common sense here, large capacity clips that can basically, in my opinion, be weapons of mass destruction, should not be available to the average citizen. They will be available to our military. They will be available to our police officers.

INSKEEP: How often have you had an opportunity to work Gabrielle Giffords, the congresswoman who was shot?

Rep. MCCARTHY: Certainly she was a moderate. I'm considered a new Democrat, which would be considered moderate. And with that being said, you know, we agreed on many issues and we always try to work with both sides of the aisle. And I think that's something that we've had in common.

INSKEEP: It is interesting, though, and maybe it does suggest the shift in the Democratic Party that we've talked about here, in that she is a Democrat and she favors gun rights.

Rep. MCCARTHY: She does favor gun rights, but she also does look at the legislation that she feels is fair. So she goes for whatever she feels will protect her constituents.

INSKEEP: Congressman Carolyn McCarthy, thanks very much.

Rep. MCCARTHY: Thank you so much for having me on. Always a pleasure.

http://www.npr.org/2...mmo?ft=1&f=1014

[Obama 2012 1,714]

reactionary idiot she is.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

reactionary idiot she is.

Okay Yoda

[slim 1,533]

Her husband was killed, and her son wounded, in a shooting spree on the Long Island Railroad in 1993.

I'm no expert on New York law but I'm pretty sure it was illegal to shoot people on the Long Island Railroad back in 1993.

Like I said, I'm no expert, but I'm also pretty sure it was illegal to possess a handgun and two 15rd. mags on the train.

Taking a stab in the dark here, but I'm guessing the weapon used by the shooter in this incident was illegal for him to possess since NYC had a handgun ban in effect at the time of the shooting.

So, like all the other threads, I have to ask..... how do you make that MORE illegal?

The magazine that was used over the weekend would've been illegal during that decade, but, of course, it is quite legal now. Is that correct?

Representative CAROLYN MCCARTHY (Democrat, New York): That's correct.

That's not correct. In that decade it wasn't illegal to possess those magazines, it was illegal to manufacture new ones. The old ones were "grandfathered" and could be legally possessed by anyone - well, anyone except the shooter in NYC who was already breaking the law by possessing them. (Are we seeing a trend here? You mean criminals don't follow the laws?)

You have to understand, with the large amounts of bullets that were held in the magazine he was able to spray and shoot, unfortunately, an awful lot of very innocent victims.

So how'd Charles Whitman pull it off without hi-caps?

when you think about just common sense here, large capacity clips that can basically, in my opinion, be weapons of mass destruction, should not be available to the average citizen. They will be available to our military. They will be available to our police officers.

This is downright disgusting. An eleceted official who believes our military and police should have, in her words, "weapons of mass destruction."

This is precisely the reason we have a 2nd Amendment. The military and police should never, ever, EVER, outgun the body of we the people.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

DOA in the House. Won't happen. It will never be scheduled for a committee. Too bad. So sad.

[Rebecca Jo 1,962]

Okay Yoda

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

How many untruths can you find in this article?

Could tighter gun laws have saved lives in Tucson?

• Had the federal assault-weapons ban, which Congress let expire in 2004, remained in effect, Saturday's shooting in Tucson would likely have killed and injured far fewer people. And if either Arizona or federal law made it harder for people with a history of mental health problems to get guns, then the suspect in the rampage might never have obtained a weapon.
  
• Gun-control advocates are reminding lawmakers and the public of how readily disturbed shooters can obtain rapid-fire weaponry in a fresh push to tighten laws in the wake of the shooting, which killed 6 people and injured 14, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.).
  
• Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), who ran for Congress after her husband was shot and killed on a Long Island commuter train in 1994, has said she'll introduce legislation that targets high-capacity ammunition clips of the kind said to have been used in Tucson. As we've reported, law-enforcement officials have said that the gun used in the shooting, a Glock 9mm, could hold about 30 or more rounds, two or three times a normal magazine capacity. And today they told NBC that the shooter got off at least 31 rounds.
  
• The federal assault-weapons ban, which passed in 1994 and expired in 2004, prohibited magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. Gun-control advocates say that had such clips still been outlawed, and therefore far harder to acquire, Saturday's shooting spree would likely have caused far less damage. The shooter would have had to stop to reload, allowing others to subdue him -- the very scenario that occurred after he spent his first magazine.
  
• "If he had a revolver or a knife or a clip under 10 rounds, a lot more people would be alive today, or not shot," Brian Malte of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, told The Lookout.
  
• Gun-control advocates also are pressing to get laws passed to make it harder for those with a history of mental health problems to get guns. Jared Loughner, the suspect in Saturday's shooting, had been kicked out of Pima Community College until a doctor could certify that he didn't pose a threat to himself or others there. But because a court hadn't found Loughner to be mentally ill -- the benchmark that federal law currently requires -- he would have passed the background check that he had to undergo to buy his Glock 9mm. Malte said that a push to broaden the federal mental-health prohibition so it would apply to cases like Loughner's is now being considered.
  
• Malte also argued that state gun laws need strengthening. California, he noted, allows law-enforcement professionals to declare someone a danger to themselves or others, which then prevents them from getting a gun without an OK from a medical professional. It's possible, though by no means certain, that a similar system in Arizona -- which has some of the weakest gun laws in the nation -- would have prevented Loughner from getting a weapon. Aside from getting kicked out of school amid concerns over his mental health, he had also been arrested numerous times.
  
• But Charles Heller of the Arizona Citizens Defense League, a gun-rights group, thinks tougher restrictions wouldn't help. "More laws equal more restrictions on people's ability to defend themselves," Heller told the L.A. Times.
  
• "What happened at the Safeway plaza shows why it's so important for people to be armed," he said, "because evil is out there."
  
• Support for gun control has waned in recent years. A Gallup poll from October 2010 found that just 44 percent of Americans favored stricter gun laws -- down from 78 percent in 1990.
  

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/could-tighter-gun-laws-have-saved-lives-in-tucson

[slim 1,533]

How many untruths can you find in this article?

No less than a half-dozen.

[JohnSmith2007 353]

Looking at the title, what is "high capacity ammo"?

[natty bumppo 297]

Looking at the title, what is "high capacity ammo"?

they compressed the smokeless powder as the bullet was seated?

[JohnSmith2007 353]

they compressed the smokeless powder as the bullet was seated?

Maybe this is what he is talking about?

[natty bumppo 297]

Maybe this is what he is talking about?

could be ....

probably for all the pistols chambered to use those cartridges ...

[Ban Hammer 13,676]

Representative CAROLYN MCCARTHY (Democrat, New York): That's correct. A clip can carry anywhere from 10 bullets, all the way up to 33, depending on the manufacturer.

then go ahead and outlaw them high capacity clips!

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

This is precisely the reason we have a 2nd Amendment. The military and police should never, ever, EVER, outgun the body of we the people.

Well, I'd wager a guess that they already do.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

then go ahead and outlaw them high capacity clips!

I don't think many people will understand you. Have you explained the difference between a clip and a magazine?