After Tucson, Americans Debate Gun Policy

It has been nearly three weeks since a gunman opened fire on a crowd in Tucson, Arizona, killing six and wounding 19, including U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. The shooting has prompted calls for more civil political discourse and raised questions about gun control in the United States.

The accused shooter, Jared Loughner, used a legally purchased 33-shot magazine on his Glock 19 pistol, which he fired at least 31 times before he was tackled.    

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) and Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) proposed legislation to prohibit the manufacture and sale of high-capacity ammunition feeding devices, like the magazine used by Loughner. “The only reason to have 33 bullets loaded in a handgun is to kill a lot of people very quickly. These high-capacity clips simply should not be on the market,” Lautenberg said. These magazines were illegal under the Federal Assault Weapons Ban of 1994, which expired in 2004. Laughtenberg proposed additional legislation to close gun show background check loopholes and prevent suspected terrorists from gaining access to firearms.

“This important package of legislation is straightforward, reasonable, and long overdue,” said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “We have only a few federal gun laws on the books, and even those have loopholes which allow dangerous people to get firearms all too easily.”

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has spoken out on the need to fix the "broken" background check system that allowed Loughner, who had a history of mental illness and drug abuse, to buy his pistol. The system, he said, should "...contain all the records of felony convictions, domestic violence misdemeanors and protective orders, drug use and addiction, and determinations of mental illness that would prevent those categories of troubled people from buying guns." Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), whose own stances toward gun policy earned him an endorsement form the National Rifle Association, has proposed increasing the waiting period for gun purchases.   

Support for gun policy reform has come from some Republican politicians as well. Former Vice President Dick Cheney, a staunch gun rights advocate, said last week that it might be time to reinstate the magazine-size rule, and Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) said that he would support a reinstatement of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban.

Another member of Congress, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) announced last Tuesday that would introduce legislation making it illegal to carry a firearm within 1,000 feet certain government officials, including lawmakers. King, who is the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee and co-chair of the Congressional Task Force on Illegal Guns, said his office received more than 500 calls the next day, mostly from voters who disagree with his plan.   

Supporters of gun policy reform have criticized President Obama, who has not yet sought to reinstate the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, despite campaign pledges to do so. The ban, which was enacted in 1994, prohibited the commercial manufacture of most semi-automatic weapons, dubbed "assault weapons". When asked about President Obama's plans for gun policy reform in the wake of the Tucson shooting, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said the President was focused on the "important healing process."

Despite recent attention to the issue, critics are skeptical that gun policy in the United States will change anytime soon. The Pew Center released a report last week that found that public attitudes toward gun control have not changed since the shooting, and Arizona actually reported a surge in gun purchases following the shooting.

Arizona has a reputation for lax gun laws. Last April, Governor Jan Brewer signed a law allowing adults over 21 years of age to carry concealed weapons in public spaces without a permit, making it the third state (behind Alaska and Vermont) with such legislation. Rep. Giffords herself was a supporter of Second Amendment rights, helping the Democrat to carry a largely Republican district. Arizona is also the second largest provider of arms to Mexico, after Texas.