A Call to Action:
Urge Congress to Ban High-Capacity Magazines
Saturday's tragic event is an atrocity on so many levels. We grieve for the dead and express our deepest sympathies to their families.We gather in collective hope that the injured will recover and the day will come, when defying all odds, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords returns to the floor of the House, though such outcome is far from certain and we wonder both privately and collectively what this act says about our democracy. But, it is insufficient to stop there.
While there is much upon which to reflect from the shooting, we must also be galvanized and determined to take action. Below is an op-ed I have written on this very point and specific action steps you can take.
The large capacity 31-bullet magazine that Jared Loughner used to impose chaos and catastrophe in Tucson had been banned when we passed the ban on assault weapons and large volume magazines in 1994. That bill had a 10 year sunset provision and in 2004, Congress allowed the ban to lapse, thus making the precise type of magazine that Loughner used perfectly legal. Allowing the ban to lapse was then, and continues to be now, an outrage. We must take steps to urge the White House and Congress to take these large magazines off the streets of our country. It defies any reasoned logic to support the notion that these magazines have a valid place in our society.
If one specific action results from Saturday's tragedy, let it be that Congress once again, and permanently, declares these dangerous magazines illegal. Neither our law enforcement officers, nor any of us, should ever be confronted with this sort of violence, especially when we can prevent it.This is indeed a time for us to pull together, Republicans and Democrats alike, and take this very simple, very logical step to make America a safer nation.
Thank you,
Richard M. Aborn
Take Action:
Copy and paste the below message into the message box on the following government contact websites:
Please take action to restore the ban on high-capacity magaizines.
Urge Our Government Leaders to Ban High-Capacity Magazines:
President Barack Obama http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
Rep. John Boehner, Speaker of the House http://www.speaker.gov/Contact/
Rep. Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic Leader http://www.democraticleader.gov/contact
Sen. Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader http://reid.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm
Sen. Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader http://mcconnell.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=ContactForm
Opinions - Guest Contributor - January 11, 2011
In wake of the Arizona massacre, ban high-capacity magazines: This one should be simple
By Richard Aborn
To New Yorkers, it is a tragedy that must sound eerily familiar: An individual lawfully purchases a semiautomatic weapon along with magazines (the sleeve that holds the bullets) that can carry far more bullets that any civilian could possibly ever use, steps into a crowded area and opens fire. Six are killed, another 19 injured, some with crippling injuries. Shots ring out so fast that there is nowhere to hide. The shooting only stops when the gunman is tackled as he tries to reload. It was December 1993. The 5:33 p.m. Long Island Rail Road train was pulling into the Merillon Avenue Station bringing commuters home when Colin Ferguson released his barrage of death.
Fast-forward to Saturday. Jared Lee Loughner, armed with a semiautomatic weapon with a perfectly lawful 31-round magazine, allegedly kills six people, injuries 14 more and is stopped only when he goes to reload. Tragically, in both cases, each gunman had so many bullets in his weapon that even before reloading he was able to do so much damage. Think about it - 31 bullets.
The day after the LIRR shooting, President Bill Clinton issued a forceful call for tighter controls over guns. Nine months later, Congress responded by banning the large-capacity magazine that Ferguson had used, limiting civilian ownership to 10 rounds and banning assault weapons.
Regrettably, however, the ban had a 10-year sunset provision. Unimaginably, in 2004, the Republican-led Congress under President George W. Bush permitted the ban to lapse - paving the way for Loughner to lawfully buy the magazines he used to gun down Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and so many others.
It is wholly proper that much of the discussion in the aftermath of the shooting has focused on toning down the inflammatory rhetoric that now defines our political discourse. For far too long, heated personalized attacks have substituted for reasoned debate.But it would be wrong not to take more specific steps quickly, especially when there are obvious changes that can be made.Much of the recent debate around gun control has focused on assault weapons. Overshadowed has been the need to limit the firepower that civilians can carry. One is hard-pressed to find a reasonable argument justifying the need to carry 31 rounds of ammunition. There simply isn't one.
We often speak of the values by which we want to live and to be governed. The law is a reflection of those values. What value do we express when we permit any individual to lawfully purchase an unlimited number of magazines that can contain 31 rounds of ammunition? Do we really believe we need that many bullets for self-defense? Are we really safer when individuals carry so much firepower? Does the United States really believe it is helpless in the face of such atrocities?
I don't believe the answers to these questions are elusive. What will it take to get Congress to act?
Aborn is the president of the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City , and the former president of the Brady Center to Prevent Handgun Violence .