Gun Control

Our society and guns in the wake of the massacre in Newtown, Connecticut.

So, what do we do?  After a year of mass shootings.  With a daily toll of gun death.  After a massacre of little children, first graders, in Newtown, Connecticut that has shocked the world.  Every time there’s a shooting rampage there’s talk of change, of some kind of more effective control of guns in this country.

And every time - so far - it sinks beneath the waves of gun rights advocacy and fierce, fierce politics.  Now, twenty little children and the women who cared for them are gone.

This hour, On Point:  What now, after Newtown?  We’re talking about our society and guns.
-Tom Ashbrook

Robyn Thomas, executive director of the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

David Hemenway, professor of health policy at the Harvard School of Public Health. He's the author of Private Guns, Public Health.

Robert Levy, chairman of the Cato Institute.

Cato "Still, the Supreme Court has suggested that sensible gun regulations may be constitutionally permissible. Sensible is not, however, what we have in Washington, Chicago, New York and other cities, where you can probably get a pizza delivery before a response from a 911 call. Police cannot be everywhere."

Washington Post "President Obama will arrive here Sunday to meet family members of those killed in Friday’s shooting rampage, carrying out the awful rituals of mass death and national grief for his fourth time in just four years as president. Now, however, Obama will face a new and higher level of pressure from advocates of gun control, saying that this time, he must do more than simply grieve."

New York Times "Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York, a leading voice for gun control, all but demanded on Sunday that President Obama confront the prevalence of guns in the nation after a shooting rampage at an elementary school in Connecticut."

Washington Times "Rep. Jerrold Nadler, who represents portions of New York City, said he was encouraged by Mr. Obama’s statement on Friday afternoon that the mass shooting, which claimed the lives of 20 young children, requires “meaningful action” by Congress, but hopes those words turn into concrete legislation."