After on-air shooting, 2016 Democrats call for more gun control.
The Roanoke shooting of a reporter and cameraman Wednesday reignited the debate over guns among the 2016 presidential contenders, with Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Martin O'Malley the lone voices calling for more gun control.
"We've got to do something about gun violence in America, and I will take it on," Clinton declared Wednesday at an event in Iowa. The country, Clinton argued, should be able "to balance the legitimate second amendment rights with preventive measures and control measures, so that whatever motivated this murderer who eventually took his own life, we will not see more deaths, needless senseless deaths."
She urged people to "not let yet another instance go by" without trying to prevent further deaths.
In an email to supporters Thursday, O'Malley listed a slew of recent shootings, including the one in Roanoke Wednesday.
"We politicians tweet our condolences. We say, 'we must act,'" O'Malley wrote. "Here's the frustrating truth: I can't do anything about this issue that I haven't already done in Maryland until I'm elected President. Neither can any presidential candidate. Our gridlocked Congress won't pass significant gun safety legislation this year or next, and we all know it. This is our reality."
If elected, he pledged to push for a national assault weapons ban, stricter background checks, better information sharing with law enforcement and efforts to reduce straw-buying like fingerprint requirements -- all measures he previously worked to pass as governor of Maryland.
Republicans disagree that gun violence can be reduced by further gun control measures. The GOP candidates in the field say instead that the key is better enforcement of existing gun laws and attention to mental health issues.
http://www.ktvq.com/story/29897434/after-on-air-shooting-2016-democrats-call-for-more-gun-control