Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California has pledged to revive a law banning assault weapons. She is chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. And she joins us now.
Welcome, Senator.
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN, D-Calif.: Thank you very much.
GWEN IFILL: With half of the members getting an A rating from the National Rifle Association, do you have any sense that things will be different now for the assault weapons ban than it has been in the past?
DIANNE FEINSTEIN: Well, I have every sense that it's an uphill road. It was in the past when we did it in the past.
I wrote that bill. My office wrote that bill. It went through. It wasn't amended. It went through the Senate, the House. It was signed by the president. And it was the law for 10 years.
I think what is unique about this is, it's really just one class of gun, the assault weapon. The assault weapon is developed for military purposes, to kill in close combat.
And it doesn't belong in the streets of our cities. And it doesn't belong where it can be picked up easily by a grievance killer, who can walk into a workplace, a mall, a theater, and now an elementary school and kill large numbers.
GWEN IFILL: Explain to our viewers how what you are planning to introduce would have changed what happened in Newtown, Conn.
DIANNE FEINSTEIN: Well, over time, that weapon would be much less available.
What we're trying to do is ban the sale, the manufacture, the transfer, the importation of assault weapons. And it gets quite technical. And I won't go into that right now.
Grandfathered weapons that people already have, subject those weapons either to licensing or to a trigger lock, and spell out those grandfathered weapons, which would be over 900 in the bill, so nobody can say, oh, we took our -- their hunting weapon away.
Then I would be able to say, here's your hunting weapon. It's specifically exempted in the bill.
GWEN IFILL: So, we're talking about a prospective law, not one...
DIANNE FEINSTEIN: That's right. That's right.
GWEN IFILL: ... gun people already own?
DIANNE FEINSTEIN: It would ban approximately 100 weapons by actual name and then weapons by physical characteristics.
GWEN IFILL: Let's talk about the politics of all of this.
Today, we saw three pro-gun-rights Democratic senators, Sen. Reid, Sen. Manchin, Sen. Warner, all say that what happened in NewtownConnecticut has changed everything. Do you have a sense that there's a shift under way?
DIANNE FEINSTEIN: Oh, yes. I think this is the straw that broke the camel's back, to be very honest with you, Gwen.
I don't see how Americans can want, you know, a situation where a 20-year-old gets a gun from his mother, kills his mother, goes into a school, shoots his way through the glass, goes in and puts three to 11 bullets in 6-year-olds, 20 of them.
Now, if you just do an average of six bullets -- five bullets, that's 100 bullets. So it's the big clip, drum or strip that is also banned from sale, manufacture, importation, transfer. So it's the clip that enables you to have the firepower.
And I gather this particular Bushmaster, you can actually sort of dial down the ease with which you pull the trigger and its frequency. So you can just pump those bullets out in a very few seconds.
GWEN IFILL: Do you -- have you gotten any sense of a change of heart among the Republican members of the Senate?
DIANNE FEINSTEIN: I haven't had a chance to talk to Republicans. I certainly will be doing that.
I have really kind of been busy just fielding calls, which is unusual, some 20 calls to my house yesterday at home and calls today from members of the House and others that want to help with this.
GWEN IFILL: You called the White House today to talk to the president.
DIANNE FEINSTEIN: Yes.
GWEN IFILL: Has that conversation happened?
DIANNE FEINSTEIN: No. No.
GWEN IFILL: And do you believe he support you on this?
DIANNE FEINSTEIN: I haven't gotten a call back. But I will be persistent. I'm trying now to call his chief of staff to say, please, may I speak with the president briefly.
GWEN IFILL: You -- gun control activists have said that they believe that the president's first term was a failure.
And people who are gun rights activists have said that the president wants to legislate the Second Amendment out of existence. Which is true? Or is neither true?
DIANNE FEINSTEIN: Oh, neither is true.
I think the president now has an open mind. At least, I hope he has. I think the fact that I have authored something before which became the law hopefully will have some credibility with him.
And we're very happy to sit down with his staff, which is what I want to offer, to go over the specifics of the legislation, options, and get his views. I would like to do that sooner, rather than later, because we're working with others.
I want to work with members in this body, members in the other body, and try to see that, by the beginning of the year, we have got something where there is some very good support.
GWEN IFILL: What do you say to people who support the right to own arms that this is the camel's nose under the tent, and, the next thing, you will be after concealed-carry weapons, you will be after other kinds of gun rights?
DIANNE FEINSTEIN: Well, that's just not true.
It wasn't true with the prior bill that was the law for 10 years. And I just think, candidly, that dog doesn't hunt.
GWEN IFILL: Why shouldn't it be true? Why wouldn't you want to go after those other laws?
DIANNE FEINSTEIN: Because that's not what I have done in the past. And it's not what I'm doing right now.
GWEN IFILL: How much do -- as we have this debate now, how much are we focusing on guns, and how much are we focusing or should we be focusing on the things that drive people to use guns in these horrific ways?
DIANNE FEINSTEIN: Well, I think you concentrate on both. You concentrate on mental illness and what we can do. You concentrate on safety in schools and those kinds of things.
But small children have a basic right to go to a school and feel safe. And these guns, because they kill large numbers of people very quickly, they aren't used for hunting, they aren't hunting weapons. You don't need them for defense. They are military-style weapons. And they don't belong in the streets of our cities or our towns.
GWEN IFILL: And, finally, Sen. Feinstein, we have been here before. The president, as he said last night, has spoken at four different memorial services for shooting victims since he's been president.
And each time, there's been discussion that this is the moment -- especially after a congresswoman was shot, this is the moment when everything will change. Why is this the moment?
DIANNE FEINSTEIN: Well, this is the moment because I think people have had it. They have had it in fear.
You know, look at Aurora. That man came in with a 100-round clip -- excuse me, drum. If that drum hadn't jammed, he would have killed many more people. Look at Virginia Tech. Look at Jonestown. Look at -- Jonesboro, rather. Look at Columbine. Look at what's been happening. It's got to stop.
Our schools have to be safe places. These guns are the guns that the grievance killer, the gangs, that people who want to do real damage look for and find very easy to obtain in our society. And we need to change that. And that's what I'm trying to do.
GWEN IFILL: Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, thank you so much.
DIANNE FEINSTEIN: Thank you, Gwen.
GWEN IFILL: An administration official told the NewsHour today that the president began talking with White House staff, the vice president and some members of the Cabinet about ways the country can respond to the tragedy in Newtown.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/july-dec12/feinstein_12-17.html
Gun Rights Supporter Sen. Mark Warner Says Tighter Firearms Laws Needed
Ray Suarez begins our coverage with this report.
RAY SUAREZ: A hearse arrived this morning at Saint Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Newtown carrying the body of 6-year-old James Mattioli, one of the slain first graders from Sandy HookElementary School.
Hours later, a church bell tolled as mourners greeted another small white casket at the funeral for Jessica Rekos, also 6.
Meanwhile, students from other local schools returned to class, in buses adorned with ribbons bearing Sandy Hook's colors. Police were on hand, as were counselors.
JOHN SOLLAZZO, Connecticut Police Officer: Making the kids safe and happy, that's all we're here for, is to make sure that they are safe and happy.
RAY SUAREZ: Sandy Hook itself remains closed. Plans call for its students to be sent to a now vacant school in nearby Monroe, but it was unclear when.
Back in Washington, a string of Democratic members of Congress took to the House floor, calling for new gun legislation.
REP. JANICE HAHN, D-Calif.: We need to pass bold, necessary, overdue gun control legislation. If we do not, this will happen again.
REP. GERRY CONNOLLY, D-Va.: Twenty innocents and their six teachers. More tears. More burials. But will we heed its meaning? Will we break the gun lobby's spell?
RAY SUAREZ: Outside the Capitol, the head of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence said Sandy Hook has altered the political equation on guns.
DAN GROSS, Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence: They say Friday's horrific mass shooting at Sandy HookElementary School changed everything. And it has. It is a tipping point.
RAY SUAREZ: And White House spokesman Jay Carney announced President Obama will back a push for new legislation.
JAY CARNEY, White House: He is actively supportive of, for example, Senator Feinstein's stated intent to revive a piece of legislation that would reinstate the assault weapons ban. He supports and would support legislation that addresses the problem of the so-called gun show loophole.
RAY SUAREZ: Late today, the National Rifle Association offered its first statement on the killings, saying it was shocked, saddened and heartbroken. The group called a Friday news conference and promised meaningful contributions to prevent any future massacres.
GWEN IFILL: We interviewed Sen. Dianne Feinstein last night about her push to renew the assault weapons ban. Now we hear another perspective.
Virginia Sen. Mark Warner is a Democrat who received an A-rating from the National Rifle Association.
Sen. Warner, welcome.
We heard that yesterday after the shootings in Newtown, you said that this was a game-changer. What do you mean by that?
SEN. MARK WARNER D-Va.: Well, Gwen, I'm a strong Second Amendment rights supporter. I own firearms. On my farm, I have actually got shooting range.
But Friday afternoon, my daughters, who had all come home from college, said, dad, you know, how did this happen? And what are you going to do about it?
And just as a father, the horror of what happened in Connecticut coming on the heels of tragedies at Virginia Tech years before, the tragedy in Colorado, and it seems like about every six or nine months, one of these incidents happening in America, makes me say, you know, enough is enough. There's got to be a rational way to sort through this.
I'm not saying I have got a perfect piece of legislation. I don't think there is a single perfect piece of legislation. But in a country where we have got 30,000 gun deaths a year, there's got to be a way that we can do a bit more. And I hope that responsible gun owners around America will join in this conversation as well.
I think we have got to recognize that it is about rational, appropriate gun rules, but also about mental health issues. And my hope is our country takes a deep breath and doesn't just simply get exercised by this for a few moments and then push this horrible tragedy back into the background and forget about it.
GWEN IFILL: Assuming that there is not one single solution here, let's talk about what you mean when you say rational gun control. Sen. Feinstein says an assault weapons ban would be rational. Would you agree with that?
MARK WARNER: I think that, from the evidence I have seen, that a lot of the challenge comes around the speed by which you can shoot, in effect, these multiple magazines in terms of how rapidly they can be discharged.
Now, there's a whole series of different negotiations about what qualifies as an assault weapon and what doesn't. I think there will be time for that kind of conversation.
We have got to find a way to sort through to where there is an ability for law-abiding citizens still to possess firearms -- nobody is going to take away your shotgun -- but to make sure that these kinds of weapons that in many cases were developed for our military and have become extraordinarily, lethally effective killing machines for our military are now in the hands of people that are just not appropriate.
GWEN IFILL: The governor of your home state of Virginia has said that he thinks that maybe you should consider arming teachers in classrooms. The governor of Michigan, who is another Republican, said today -- decided to veto a conceal carry law in Michigan.
Which of these is the right approach?
MARK WARNER: Well, quite honestly, I'm not sure either of those are the right approach.
I don't -- I think what we need is to be able to have a conversation, and be able to have a debate about this. But I'm not sure the notion that, as I have heard some members of Congress say, that if each teacher had been armed that somehow this would have prevented a tragedy.
I believe that we need to look at mental health issues. I think we need a reexamination of some of our gun restrictions. And my hope is, is that this doesn't break down on kind of a red shirt/blue shirt, Democrat/Republican kind of issue.
GWEN IFILL: You mentioned the NRA. Let me ask you about that.
They put out a statement today, after having not said much about this, saying that they -- the National Rifle Association of America is made up of four million moms and dads, sons and daughters, and that they are planning a news conference to talk about that, but they are prepared to make what they describe as meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again.
What would you like to hear the NRA -- you're a member of the NRA. You're supported by the NRA. What would you like to hear them say as -- contribute as a meaningful contribution?
MARK WARNER: What are the instruments here that are being used? Are there guns that were developed by the military as technology has advanced and has allowed our soldiers to become better, more effective in Iraq and Afghanistan? Should all of those weapons be able to be slightly modified and then sold on a commercial market?
What kind of -- how much restraint does it put on a lawful target shooter if they want to have to change out a clip after every 10 shells or -- 10 or 15 shells? I'm not sure what the right number should be here.
But I think the NRA ought to have a voice in this conversation as well. I think they can go ahead again, reassure that nobody is going to be out trying to say we need to take away your shotgun or take away the kind of components that are part of American culture in terms of the right to hunt, the right to enjoy the outdoors with firearms.
But I do think that simply saying that the status quo is acceptable and bemoaning another tragedy six or nine months from now, without any real close examination of seeing what laws and rules and regulations need to be changed, would be a real mistake and wouldn't do -- wouldn't be the appropriate honoring the legacy of those poor kids that lives were taken.
And, quite honestly, I have to give my three daughters a better answer than I gave them on Friday night. I have got to be able to say, you know, I was part of trying to at least get some level of solution, so this kind of tragedy doesn't happen again.
GWEN IFILL: Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, thank you so much for joining us.
MARK WARNER: Thank you, Gwen.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Tomorrow night, we will talk with Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/july-dec12/warner_12-18.html
No comments:
Post a Comment