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I dislike Rep. Peter King as much as any Republican in Congress, but I guess the Giffords tragedy has him very afraid. He’s actually bucking the NRA company line. Rep. Peter King, a Republican from New York, is planning to introduce legislation that would make it illegal to bring a gun within 1,000 feet of a government official, according to a person familiar with the congressman’s intentions. King is chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. The proposed law follows the Saturday shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and a federal judge that left six dead , including the judge, and 14 wounded. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, one of the nation’s most outspoken gun-control advocates, is backing King’s measure and is expected to put the weight of his pro-gun-control organization behind it. “Yesterday everyone here joined in observing a moment of silence on behalf of the victims of the shooting, and today we come together to speak up for ways to prevent tragedies like this from occurring in the future, by adopting commonsense fixes to some of our broken gun laws,” Bloomberg said Tuesday. “Civil debate is important, and I’ve long spoken out in favor of more cooperation and less antagonism, but I think it’s true that the more we learn, the more it becomes clear that this case is fundamentally about a mentally ill drug abuser who had access to guns and shouldn’t have.” A spokesman for King wasn’t immediately available for comment. In 2009, Bloomberg’s pro-gun-control organization specified 40 ways President Obama could rein in illegal gun use without passing any new legislation. At a press event in Manhattan on Tuesday, Bloomberg added three steps to the list, including revamping the system of federal background checks on gun buyers, sharing information between gun background check databases, and appointing a head of the federal law enforcement agency responsible for controlling gun crime , which has operated without a director for almost five years. The NRA isn’t going to be happy with this because they believe strapping on high-powered weapons anywhere in the country is their God-given right for profit-making. In the above video, Lawrence O’Donnell has a great segment which focuses on high-capacity magazines that are available for sale. Loughner legally purchased a Glock 19 semi-automatic for $500.00. I guess they are really good for hunting rabbits. Loughner then bought bullets at a Wal-Mart . The Wall Street Journal reports that Loughner was not refused but left the store before making a purchase: “Loughner tried that morning to buy bullets at a Wal-Mart store but was turned away, and then purchased some at another Wal-Mart, say people familiar with the matter, who relayed the preliminary findings of law enforcement officials. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Loughner wasn’t turned away from the first store but left before completing his purchase. “We stand ready to provide any information or video surveillance footage we may have to investigators,” the company said in a statement.” It’s a 33-round magazine, the kind that once was banned. It’s no surprise that Loughner fired almost all of the rounds during his assault on Giffords and her accompanying crowd. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy joined O’Donnell, and is introducing legislation to ban high-capacity clips. She lost her husband to a fatal shooting incident in 1993. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., with the backing of gun control groups, are drafting a bill that would ban the sale of high-capacity magazines such as the one that was used allegedly Saturday by Jared Lee Loughner, the man accused of murdering federal Judge John Roll and trying to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., according to two gun-control activists working with McCarthy’s staff. Gun-control proponents are hoping to move rapidly on the measure in the wake of reports that Loughner’s access to high-capacity, 33-round magazines substantially increased the lethality of his attack, the activists said. An Arizona law enforcement official confirmed to NBC News on Monday that Loughner had actually gotten off at least 31 shots during the Saturday shooting, not the 20 that were first reported. He was emptying his first high-capacity magazine and was trying to reload with another high-capacity magazine (with another 30 rounds) when he was wrestled to the ground, the official said. Good luck, and may the Caprican Gods go with you. It’s also good to see that gun control is still part of the Democratic Party platform although there are too many Democrats who bow down to the almighty NRA. Reauthorize assault weapons ban, close gun show loophole We will protect Americans’ Second Amendment right to own firearms, and we will keep guns out of the hands of criminals and terrorists by fighting gun crime, reauthorizing the assault weapons ban, and closing the gun show loophole, as President Bush proposed and failed to do. Source: The Democratic Platform for America, p.18 Jul 10, 2004 Strengthen gun control to reduce violence Democrats passed the Brady Law and the Assault Weapons Ban. We increased federal, state, and local gun crime prosecution by 22 percent since 1992. Now gun crime is down by 35 percent. Now we must do even more. We need mandatory child safety locks. We should require a photo license I.D., a background check, and a gun safety test to buy a new handgun. We support more federal gun prosecutors and giving states and communities another 10,000 prosecutors to fight gun crime. Source: Democratic National Platform Aug 15, 2000