Shootings renew gun-control debate

Many discourage rush to action on sensitive topic
columbus dispatch
Virginia Tech that killed 33 people have revived a dormant debate in Congress over whether to tighten the rules about buying guns.

But even staunch gun-control advocates yesterday conceded the chances for more-restrictive gun laws were slim.

"It could be very hard" to get any new restrictions, said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a leading supporter of stricter gun-control rules. "It's always very hard and very emotional."

Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vt., the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee that would take a major role in crafting any new gun-control laws, said he has "never found the mood to be hot for" gun restrictions and that the shootings are unlikely to change that.

The gun-control movement got a big boost after the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado and culminated a year later with the Million Mom March, when thousands of women marched in Washington, D.C., to demand tougher gun laws.

But no major new gun restrictions resulted and, recently, Congress has taken steps to loosen some gun laws.

Under Republican control, Congress in 2004 allowed the 1994 assault-weapons ban to expire; that statute outlawed some semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity ammunition clips. And two years ago, President Bush signed a law shielding gun makers and sellers from a broad swath of civil lawsuits.

Bush, in an interview yesterday with ABC News, said he expects a debate on gun policy, but now is not the time.

"I think when a guy walks in and shoots 32 people it's going to cause there to be a lot of policy debate," he said. "Now is not the time to do the debate until we're actually certain about what happened. And after we help people get over their grieving. But yeah, I think there's going to be a lot of discussion."

Bush has said he believes law-abiding citizens have the right to own guns, but he also has said he would support some modest limitations.

Gun-rights supporters say that advocacy of tighter controls cost Al Gore the presidency in 2000 and helped elect Republicans to Congress.

Many Democrats have since shied away from the gun issue for fear of turning off hunters and rural, gun-owning voters. Last year's election also sent several moderate Democrats to Congress, including Sen. Jon Tester, Mont., who promised voters on the campaign trail he would "stand up to anyone ... who wants to take away Montanans' gun rights."

Feinstein noted that the shooter at Virginia Tech may have been able to fire off shots quickly using a clip carrying 16 bullets. That size of a clip was illegal under the expired assault-weapons law, which limited clips to 10 rounds.

Other Democrats on Capitol Hill reacted cautiously. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., deferred discussing gun legislation until later this week, while Tester said lawmakers' focus should be on the victims.

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., who came to Congress on a gun-control platform after her husband died in a 1993 shooting, complained that Congress "has stood idle while gun violence continues to take its toll."

"The unfortunate situation in Virginia could have been avoided if congressional leaders stood up to the gun lobby," McCarthy said.

Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, who serves on the National Rifle Association's board of directors, said it would be a political misstep for backers of tighter gun controls to seize on the shooting as evidence tougher laws are needed.

"Americans are more than ever before awakened to the reality of politics and those who try to take advantage of difficult and tragic situations like this (in) the name of their personal politics," Craig said.

The issue could flare up on the campaign trail. The top Democratic candidates -- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois -- have supported tighter restrictions on guns.

Most leading Republican candidates -- including former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney -- also have built records supporting gun controls.

Meanwhile, the lobbying group Gun Owners of America blamed gun-control laws for possibly contributing to the tragedy.

"The latest school shooting at Virginia Tech demands an immediate end to the gun-free zone law," Gun Owners of America president Larry Pratt said in an e-mail. "It is irresponsibly dangerous to tell citizens that they may not have guns at schools."

That sentiment was shared by Mike Stollenwerk, 44, co-founder of OpenCarry.org, a Virginia-based gun-rights networking group.

"The only person who is responsible to defend you is you -- the police are incapable of defending each and every one of us all the time," he said.

In Virginia, anyone 21 years of age or older holding a concealed handgun permit can carry a weapon. But Virginia Tech and other colleges across the state have policies that prohibit bringing weapons onto campus facilities.

Information from the New York Daily News and Cox News Service was included in this story.