The Fate Of Gun Reform

55:58

March 21, 2013

Three months after Sandy Hook. Will gun reform be gutted in the U.S. Senate? Is it happening right now?

Neil Heslin, the father of a six-year-old boy who was slain in the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14, holds a picture of himself with his son Jesse and wipes his eye while testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013, before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013. (AP)

On December 14^th, just before Christmas, 20 little children were gunned down, massacred, in their school in Newtown, Connecticut. Within a month, in response to national anguish, the Obama administration had proposed the most sweeping gun control policy reforms in a generation.

Emotions were so high, poll numbers for reform were so strong, some people called it inevitable. This week, three months after Newtown, it appears to be coming undone. In the Democratic-controlled Senate.

This hour, On Point: taking down gun reform, after Newtown.
-Tom Ashbrook

Guests

Fawn Johnson, national reporter for National Journal. (@fawnjohnson)

Jackie Kucinich, congressional reporter for USA Today. (@jfkucinich)

Stephen Barton, outreach and policy associate for Mayors Against Illegal Guns. He was shot with 25 shotgun pellets in the face, neck, chest and arms during the Aurora movie theater shooting. (@scubarton)

Senator Chris Murphy, Democratic Senator from Connecticut. (@chrismurphyct)

Charles C.W. Cooke, writes for National Review, where he covers Second Amendment issues. (@charlescwcooke)

From Tom's Reading List

USA Today (Jackie Kucinich) "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday he hopes to have a bill to address gun violence on the Senate floor soon after the Easter break, but confirmed that measure will not include the assault weapons ban."

National Journal (Fawn Johnson) "The Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote Thursday approving an assault-weapons ban was a sham—if you think the purpose was to ban assault weapons. If you think the committee’s vote offered an opportunity for lawmakers to parse and deliberate complicated and unresolved questions about the Constitution, guns, and violence, then it was a highly productive 90 minutes."

Businessweek "When the Senate returns from a leisurely two-and-a-half-week recess, scheduled to commence on March 23, Reid promises to get some kind of gun-control bill to the floor for a vote. Its precise contours remain uncertain. Still, after 12 weeks of politicking on the gun issue, it’s possible to make some predictions and observations:"

This program aired on March 21, 2013.

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