Bloomberg on assault weapons ban: ‘We’re going to get the vote’

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) pledged that supporters of an assault-weapons ban would get a vote in Congress.

“We've been fighting since 2007 to get a vote. We are going to have a vote for sure on assault weapons and we're going to have a vote on background checks,” said the prominent gun-control advocate in an interview aired Sunday on NBC’s "Meet the Press."

“If we were to get background checks only, it wouldn't be as good as if we got both, but look, we demanded a plan and then we demanded a vote. We've got the plan, we're going to get the vote,” he said.

Bloomberg’s comments come after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced earlier this week that the Senate would vote on a gun control bill after returning from Easter recess. Reid, though, decided not to include a measure for a federal assault weapons ban, a key provision backed by the White House and Bloomberg.

Reid said Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) proposal could have hampered passage of other gun control measures. Efforts to heighten restrictions on gun ownership face an uphill struggle, with strong opposition from GOP lawmakers and the nation’s gun lobby.

Bloomberg will also personally fund a $12 million national campaign to target swing state senators to back gun control. The ads are slated to run in 13 states over the Easter recess. But the Bloomberg ads will press for background check legislation, which gun reform advocates believe has the best chance of becoming law, making no mention of assault weapons.

Bloomberg defended his efforts on gun control Sunday, saying that he had a "responsibility" as a public official to push for safer gun laws.

"I think I have a responsibility, and I think you and all of your viewers have responsibilities, to try to make this country safer for our families and for each other," he said. "And if I can do that by spending some money and taking the NRA from being the only voice to being one of the voices, so the public can really understand the issues, then I think my money would be well spent, and I think I have an obligation to do that."

Bloomberg's move though attracted a sharp rebuke from National Rifle Association (NRA) Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre. 

LaPierre who also appeared on NBC said Bloomberg would realize he "can't buy America."

"He can't spend enough of his $27 billion to try to impose his will on the American public. They don't want him in their restaurants, they don't want him in their homes. They don't want him telling them what food to eat; they sure don't want him telling them what self-defense firearms to own," said LaPierre.

Bloomberg met on Thursday with Vice President Joe Biden to discuss gun control efforts, and at a joint press conference warned that voters would watch Congress closely and expect action on gun control after last December’s traffic mass shooting at an elementary school in Connecticut.

“I don't think there's ever been an issue where the public has spoken so clearly, where Congress hasn't eventually understood and done the right thing,” said Bloomberg on Sunday.

“If 90% of the public want something, and their representatives vote against that, common sense says, they are going to have a price to pay for that. The public is going to eventually wake up and say, ‘I want to put in office somebody that will do the things that I think are necessary for this country,’” he added.

Gun-control advocates believe that legislation to mandate checks on all firearm purchasers has the best chance of passing Congress this session, with an assault weapons ban facing a much tougher fight.

President Obama, though, has made calls for an assault weapons ban a key element of his proposals to stem gun violence. In his weekly address he again urged lawmakers to vote on a series of gun measures including bans on the sale of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity clips.

“These ideas shouldn’t be controversial — they’re common sense,” Obama said. “They’re supported by a majority of the American people. And I urge the Senate and the House to give each of them a vote.”  

This story was published at 7:35 a.m. and has been updated.

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Dem Gov. Hickenlooper concedes assault weapons ban ‘tough sell’

By Molly K. Hooper - 03/24/13 11:10 AM ET

Less than a week after signing one of the nation’s toughest gun laws, Colorado’s governor conceded Sunday that banning assault weapons will be a tough sell on Capitol Hill.

Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper noted that in Colorado – a state that has endured several high-profile mass killings in recent years – the legislature wasn’t able to ban assault weapons.

“It’s a tough sell,” Hickenlooper explained on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

He said he had encountered 200 protestors defending Second Amendment rights on Saturday at an event in the western part of his state who “prayed” with the governor over Colorado’s new gun laws.

“They were really upset just over universal background checks and banning the high capacity magazines … I met with the leaders of the protest … really tried to hear them … we had a blunt, honest dialogue but in the end they asked could they pray for me,” Hickenlooper told host Candy Crowley.

“They deeply believe that their guns and the Second Amendment are critical parts of American life, he added. 

“I think the feeling right now around assault weapons, at least in Colorado, is that they are so hard to define what an assault weapon is – there’s a lot of questions whether the 10 year federal ban was in existence, made a difference,” Hickenlooper said.

Last week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced that the gun violence bill that the Senate will consider soon, will not include an assault weapon ban, to the chagrin of the White House.

Vice President Biden led a commission to examine possible legislative actions to prevent mass killings shortly after the devastating shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. late last year.

Biden recommended a ban on the sale of assault weapons and some high-capacity magazine clips. President Obama has pressed for lawmakers to reinstitute that ban, and the White House said last week that they would not stop “pushing” for a vote. 

Reid has said that Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) assault weapons measure could see a vote as an amendment to the gun bill. But Reid warned that the assault weapons ban, which is unlikely to pass the GOP-controlled House could have dragged down other gun-control measures.

For its part, Colorado focused on mental health related issues in their bill to address gun violence. Hickenlooper on Sunday said a step-by-step approach could help build support.

“We focused on mental health first, then universal background checks … which clearly make a significant difference, that’s where we put our initial focus,” Hickenlooper explained.

Hickenlooper was also personally affected by gun violence last week, when the head of Colorado’s prison system was gunned down on Tuesday.

Tom Clements’ suspected assailant, Evan Ebel, happens to be the troubled son of Hickenlooper’s good friend of 30 years.

Authorities suspect that Clements’ name was on a hit list issued by a brutal white supremacist group in the Colorado prison system – of which Ebel was a member.

Hickenlooper suggested that his name may be on the list as well.

Asked if his security had been increased in light of the hit list, Hickenlooper responded, “somewhat, they picked it up a little bit.”

He said that the emotional toll has been more concerning however.

“I'm not terribly worried about it, the whole week I felt like I was caught in a nightmare that I couldn't wake up from that all these things kept happening to people that I loved and they didn't seem to be connected in any way. To me the emotional toll has been much deeper than worrying about security,” Hickenlooper said.

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Fox: Americans Need Assault Weapons To Protect Themselves From An Iranian Invasion, Al Qaeda

During a roundtable discussion on Friday, Fox News’ Lou Dobbs agreed with a network contributor who argued that Americans need to access military-style assault weapons to protect themselves from an Iranian invasion.

“What scares the hell out of me we have a president, as we were discussing during break, that wants to take away our guns, but yet he wants to attack Iran and Syria. So if they come and attack us here, we don’t have the right to bear arms under this Obama administration,” Angela McGlowan, a former lobbyist for News Corp., said in the midst of a conversation about violence in Syria.

Dobbs quickly agreed, adding, “we’re told by Homeland Security that there are already agents of Al Qaeda here working in this country. Why in the world would you not want to make certain that all American citizens were armed and prepared? ” Watch it:

The panel also falsely argued that widespread gun ownership in Israel has helped prevent terrorist attacks, though access to firearms is strictly limited to people who “can prove their professions or places of residence put them in danger.” Approximately “170,000 guns are licensed for private use in Israel,” while assault weapons are “banned for private ownership.”

[HT: MMFA]

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White House Announces New Coordinator for Defense Policy, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Arms Control

White House Announces New Coordinator for Defense Policy, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Arms Control | The White House Skip to main content | Skip to footer site map The White House. President Barack Obama Get Email UpdatesContact Us Go to homepage. The White House Blog Photos & Videos Photo Galleries Video Performances Live Streams Podcasts 2012: A Year in Photos

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For Immediate Release March 19, 2013 White House Announces New Coordinator for Defense Policy, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Arms Control

Today, National Security Advisor Tom Donilon announced that Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European Affairs Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall will be moving to a new position on the National Security Staff as the White House Coordinator for Defense Policy, Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Arms Control.  She will take up her duties on April 8. 
 
National Security Advisor Donilon said, “As one of the President’s closest advisors for the past four years, Liz’s leadership and advice have been instrumental as we have successfully strengthened our alliances and partnerships across Europe, helped to revitalize NATO, and worked with Europe to advance the President’s global agenda.  Liz brings deep expertise and a track record of accomplishment in defense issues and in proliferation prevention.  The President will look to her to bring significant energy and capability to his second term as we pursue the ambitious goals he set forth in his Prague speech in 2009 and prepare our military to defend the American people and our allies against the threats we face today and in the future.”

During the Clinton Administration, Dr. Sherwood-Randall served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia, where she played a central role in the denuclearization of Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Belarus. She has also held positions at Harvard University, Stanford University, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Brookings Institution, and previously served as the Chief Foreign Affairs and Defense Policy Advisor to Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

Blog posts on this issue March 19, 2013 11:00 AM EDTPromises Kept: Ending the Iraq War and Supporting Our Service Members, Military Families and Veterans

Ten years after the start of the Iraq War, President Obama remains committed to our service members, military families and veterans.

March 18, 2013 7:58 PM EDTAffordable Care Act at Three: Consumer Protections

The Affordable Care Act brings an end to some of the worst insurance industry practices that have kept affordable health coverage out of reach for millions of Americans, especially when they needed it most. Under the health care law, consumers can be confident that their insurance will protect them if they get sick and their families won’t be crushed by medical bills.

March 18, 2013 7:12 PM EDTPresident Obama Hosts a Celebration of Women's History Month at the White House

The President vowed that he and his entire administration will do everything they can to ensure equality and opportunity for all women.

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Obama: Assault weapons ban 'deserves a vote' in full Senate, House

President Obama on Thursday applauded the Senate Judiciary Committee's approval of a renewed assault weapons ban and called for a vote on the proposal in the full Senate and House, hours after Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he wasn't sure if he would include the ban in his gun control package.

"The full Senate and the House need to vote on this bill, as well as the measures advanced in the past week that would impose serious penalties on anyone who buys a gun as part of a scheme to arm criminals, improve school safety, and help keep guns out of the hands of criminals, people with a severe mental illness, and others who shouldn’t have them," Obama said in a statement released by the White House. "Each of these proposals deserves a vote."

Reid, who has opposed a renewed assault weapons ban in the past, said Thursday he has not yet decided whether the package he brings to the floor for a vote will include restrictions that would ban the sale and manufacture of 150 semi-automatic weapons with military-style features.

"I'm going to talk to [Sen. Patrick] Leahy [(D-Vt.)] about that," he told reporters after a leadership press conference. "I'm not going to worry about it here. Everybody will have their chance."

Some Democrats have said that omitting the assault weapons ban, which is strongly opposed by Republicans and some Democratic members, would improve the chances of other gun controls -- including expanded background checks and new laws governing the trafficking of firearms -- being passed.

But in his statement Thursday, Obama again left little doubt that he wanted a vote on the assault weapons ban.

"These weapons of war, when combined with high-capacity magazines, have one purpose: to inflict maximum damage as quickly as possible. They are designed for the battlefield, and they have no place on our streets, in our schools, or threatening our law enforcement officers," Obama said.

The ban, sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), passed the Judiciary Committee in a 10-8 party-line vote.

- Jonathan Easley and Alexander Bolton contributed.

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Manchin: 'I do not support an assault weapons ban'

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said Monday that he opposes an assault weapons ban.

Speaking on MSNBC, Manchin, who has an "A" rating from the National Rifle Association and in December called for federal action to reduce gun violence, said he thinks there's a better way to reduce mass shootings without introducing new restrictions for gun owners.

"I do not support an assault weapon ban because the definition of assault weapon is still hard to come by," Manchin said. "So I am not going to comment on people's legislation. I do not support that approach right now."

Manchin is part of a quartet of legislators working to tighten background checks required to purchase a gun. The other members of the group are Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.).

Manchin has been a prominent legislator in the debate on reducing gun violence that arose in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shootings in December that resulted in 28 dead. Manchin, along with a number of other legislators, have called for action to reduce gun violence. He has previously stressed, however, that his call for action did not necessarily mean a call for banning guns.

"Everything has to be talked about. But you know what?…I'm not supporting a ban on anything. I'm supporting a conversation on everything," Manchin said in December to a local West Virginia radio station.

While both Republicans and Democrats have signaled an openness to new legislation aimed at reducing gun violence, lawmakers seem more divided over an assault weapons ban. President Obama has called for an assault weapons ban while critics say that restriction would go too far. Last month Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) formally introduced legislation reinstating an assault weapons ban. The last ban expired in 2004.

On Sunday Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) said he was "skeptical" of a new assault weapons ban.

"You can take exactly the same mechanics of a gun and change the stock from a wooden stock to a folding stock and put something on the barrel, and suddenly it meets the definition of an assault weapon," King said. "It doesn't shoot faster, further, anything else."

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Democratic Senator: ‘We Do Have Support’ For An Assault Weapons Ban

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) pledged to include an assault weapons ban in any legislation designed to improve gun safety and insisted, during an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday, that “we do have support” for such a provision.

The California Democrat, who introduced legislation banning 150 assault weapons earlier this week, conceded that the ban would present an “uphill fight,” but said that Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has promised that she could introduce the proposal as an amendment should it not be included in the comprehensive gun safety bill that advances to the Senate floor:

FEINSTEIN: This has been an uphill fight. This has never been easy. This is the hardest of the hard. Now, will it only be assault weapons? No. Most likely there will be a package put together. If assault weapons is left out of the package and I’m a member of the Judiciary number two in seniority. I’ve been assured by the Majority Leader I will be able to do it as an amendment on the floor. Which is the way I did it in 1993. So that doesn’t particularly bother me. [...]

Do military style assault weapons belong on the streets of our cities? And the answer, according to the United States Conference of Mayors, according to the major chiefs of police, according to the largest police organization in the world, is absolutely no. So we do have support. Don’t mistake it.

Feinstein attributed the tepid support for a ban in the Senate to the National Rifle Association, which she called “venal” and said will come after Senators and “put large amounts of money together to defeat you.”

The senator also agreed that armed security may help prevent school shootings, noting that “one-third of the schools in America today have school guards.” But, she insisted, “having school guards really isn’t the whole answer. The more you have these weapons, these military style weapons that with the single stock of the AR-15 can be made fully automatic, the minute you have it in the Sandy Hook killer’s hands, you have a devastating weapon.”

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How To Convince The NRA That Assault Weapons, Not The Media, Are Responsible For Gun Massacres

Stephen King — best selling author of the very kind of violent books that gun advocates say contribute to gun violence — has penned Guns, a 25-page essay dismissing their criticism, while calling for universal background checks for gun purchases, and a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

A self-described “blue-state American” who also owns guns, King is no stranger to how individuals can and do turn to art as inspiration for violence. During the 1990s, no fewer than four shooters read Rage — an early work King wrote in high school years and published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman years later — entered their high schools with guns, held students and teachers hostage, and in some cases killed them. The book chronicles how Charlie Decker, a troubled high school student with a “domineering father,” brought a gun to school, killed his algebra teacher, and held his class hostage — only to see his classmates experience a “psychological inversion” and come to his defense.

After copies of Rage were discovered in the possession of multiple high school shooters, King voluntarily pulled the book from publication. He did so not because the thin tome inspired would-be killers to commit unspeakable carnage; rather it acted “as a possible accelerant” for boys who spent time in psych wards pondering suicide or endured the kind of bullying that results in severe medical paranoia. These boys found a “soul brother” in Decker. He gave them “blueprints to express their hate and rage” and for that, King decided, he “had to go.” “You don’t leave a can of gasoline where a boy with firebug tendencies can lay hands on it,” the author writes in Guns.

But while art that taps into the heart of a troubled soul can “accelerate” violence, there is little evidence that it causes it. Those arguments, often advanced by conservative lawmakers with A ratings from the National Rifle Association — and the NRA itself — “throw popular culture into the debate in the hopes that it’ll be distracting chum to piranhas hungry for scapegoats but reluctant to fight difficult battles to make America safer.” They also avoid any examination of the “state of our own popular culture and the profound fears about justice, disempowerment, and the state of civil society that are reflected in it.”

As King puts it, “To claim that America’s ‘culture of violence’ is responsible for school shootings is tantamount to cigarette company executives declaring that environmental pollution is the chief cause of lung cancer.” Americans consume relatively high levels of gun violence, but we’re not acting out in response to it. Nor are we completely saturating ourselves in it. For instance, King observes that only two of the 10 most popular works of fiction in 2012 featured violence. Just one of the top-grossing movies of 2012 (Skyfall) showed gun killings. Sports, dance, and Mario Brothers are the nation’s most popular video games, and football and detective shows consistently score the highest television ratings.

In the coming days and weeks, gun manufacturers and lobbyists will spend millions convincing American gun owners who actually support sensible regulations that they are “under siege” from President Obama’s government. They’ll argue that the administration’s proposed universal background checks for all gun purchasers and waiting periods are tantamount to big brother keeping tabs on Americans who own firearms, and say that limiting the availability of military-style assault weapons that can fire off tens of bullets in rapid succession without reloading would leave Americans defenseless from home intruders or a government takeover.

They’ll deflect attention from guns and propose expanding access to mental health services, stationing guards in schools, and of course clamping down on the media’s glorification of violence. “One only wishes [NRA Executive VIce President and CEO] Wayne LaPierre and his NRA board of directors could be drafted to some of these [school shooting] scenes, where they would be required to put on booties and rubber gloves and help clean up the blood, the brains, and the chunks of intestine still containing the poor wads of half-digested food that were some innocent bystander’s last meal,” King writes. Maybe then they’ll focus less on the make-believe death in media and the very real destruction that open access to military-style weapons can cause.

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Gun Industry Aims To Sell Youth On Assault Weapons

Responding to Americans’ declining interest in shooting sports, gun manufacturers are developing programs to market their products to younger children. The National Shooting Sports Foundation trade association and the industry-funded National Rifle Association spend millions of dollars annually to recruit kids as gun enthusiasts. And those efforts increasingly focus on pushing semi-automatic assault weapons, including the very model used by the shooter in the Newtown, Connecticut tragedy.

The New York Times reports:

The pages of Junior Shooters, an industry-supported magazine that seeks to get children involved in the recreational use of firearms, once featured a smiling 15-year-old girl clutching a semiautomatic rifle. At the end of an accompanying article that extolled target shooting with a Bushmaster AR-15 — an advertisement elsewhere in the magazine directed readers to a coupon for buying one — the author encouraged youngsters to share the article with a parent.

“Who knows?” it said. “Maybe you’ll find a Bushmaster AR-15 under your tree some frosty Christmas morning!”

The industry’s youth-marketing effort is backed by extensive social research and is carried out by an array of nonprofit groups financed by the gun industry, an examination by The New York Times found. The campaign picked up steam about five years ago with the completion of a major study that urged a stronger emphasis on the “recruitment and retention” of new hunters and target shooters.

Federal law prohibits the sale of rifles to those under age 18. But through programs at Boy Scout camps and 4-H clubs, the NRA trains children on how to safely shoot single-shot rifles. And, according to the report: “Newer initiatives by other organizations go further, seeking to introduce children to high-powered rifles and handguns while invoking the same rationale of those older, more traditional programs: that firearms can teach ‘life skills’ like responsibility, ethics and citizenship.”

This effort seems eerily similar to the marketing strategy employed by the tobacco industry in the 1980s. Recognizing that the number of smokers in America was declining — and dying off — cigarette companies sought to addict underage children to ensure a continuing market for their product. A now infamous 1981 Philip Morris corporate memo noted that “[t]oday’s teenager is tomorrow’s potential regular customer, and the overwhelming majority of smokers first begin to smoke while still in their teens. In addition, the 10 years following the teenage years is the period during which average daily consumption per smoker increases to the average adult level. The smoking patterns of teenagers are particularly important to Philip Morris.”

One gun-industry study noted a similar need to “start them young,” observing that “stakeholders such as managers and manufacturers should target programs toward youth 12 years old and younger… This is the time that youth are being targeted with competing activities. It is important to consider more hunting and target-shooting recruitment programs aimed at middle school level, or earlier.”

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Defense Secretary: ‘I Don’t Know Why The Hell People Have To Have Assault Weapons’

President Obama’s new set of proposals on gun violence prevention are enjoying broad support within his administration — including the support of Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. The Secretary not only heads up the armed forces but is himself a veteran and hunter, making his recent comments in favor of the initiative salient to the heated debate of how gun owners will receive the proposals.

Speaking in front of troops, Panetta’s comments came after a soldier critiqued that Obama was “tearing apart our Second Amendment.” In a (fairly foul-mouthed) defense, Panetta pointed out exactly how they relate to the military:

“Who the hell needs armor-piercing bullets except you guys in battle?” Panetta told the soldiers at the U.S. Army Garrison Vicenza in northern Italy. “For the life of me, I don’t know why the hell people have to have assault weapons.”

Panetta, who said he believes in the Second Amendment and has been a longtime duck hunter, was asked about the issue by a soldier who wanted to know what steps the Obama administration was going to take to deal with attacks in schools that “don’t have to do with tearing apart our Second Amendment.”

The Secretary is not the only military man to lend his voice to Obama’s cause. Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the former Commander of US and ISAF forces in Afghanistan, voiced his own support for Obama’s initiative yesterday.

Law enforcement officials have also lent their weight to the call for stronger gun safety laws. Former New York City Police Commissioner Howard Safir called for more responsible gun laws in an op-ed yesterday — and his opinion has been widely echoed by local law enforcement who daily witness the dangers of firearms.

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EXCLUSIVE: 51 Upcoming Gun Shows Ban Loaded Weapons To Promote ‘A Safe Environment’

If “the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” as the NRA proclaimed in its post-Newtown press conference, why do so many gun shows prohibit attendees from carrying loaded firearms?

According to a ThinkProgress analysis, 51 gun shows in January ban attendees from bringing loaded guns onto the premises. In addition, ThinkProgress was unable to identify a single gun show this month that explicitly allowed people, even those with concealed-carry permits, to bring a loaded weapon with them.

For every event, their stated rationale for not permitting loaded weapons in the gun show was simple: safety. Crossroads Gun Show, a touring event across the western United States, explained on their website:

Q: Can I carry a loaded gun in the gun show? I have a Concealed Carry Permit.

A: We respectfully request that you do not bring any loaded firearm into the gun show. Safety is our Number One Priority, and a safe environment in the show can only be maintained if there are no loaded guns in the show.

At most shows, if an attendee brings a personal firearm, he or she must check it at the door and use a tie “so that they cannot be operated, be breached or loaded.”

Some events, like Bill Goodman’s Gun & Knife Shows across Ohio and Tennessee, even threaten prosecution for those who try to enter with a loaded weapon. “Patrons who bring loaded magazines or weapons into the show will be refused entry and may be subject to prosecution,” their website reads.

The widespread prohibition undermines the backbone of the NRA’s case against stronger gun safety laws. The powerful gun lobby argues that the best way to prevent more gun violence is for more people to have guns, supposedly deterring would-be criminals. The organization has succeeded in convincing every state but Illinois to enact laws allowing people to carry concealed weapons and conservative lawmakers are passing legislation to eliminate gun-free zones around schools and hospitals.

A full list of the 51 gun shows that explicitly ban people from carrying loaded firearms is below:

1. Oklahoma City Gun Show (January 11-12)
2. ABBA Shriners Gun & Knife Show (January 12-13)
3. Gibraltar Taylor Gun & Knife Show (January 11-13)
4. Akron Gun Show (January 12-13)
5. Binghamton Gun & Knife Show (January 12-13)
6. Dalton Gun Show (January 12-13)
7. Dayton (Vandalia) Airport Expo (January 12-13)
8. Farmington Gun Show* (January 12-13)
9. Ft. Lauderdale Gun Show (January 12-13)
10. Germantown Gun & Knife Show* (January 12-13)
11. Kansas City Gun Show* (January 12-13)
12. Maitland Gun Show (January 12-13)
13. Mesa Gun Show (January 12-13)
14. Morehead Gun Show* (January 12-13)
15. Nashville Gun Show (January 12-13)
16. San Angelo Gun & Blade Show (January 12-13)
17. San Francisco Gun Show (January 12-13)
18. Wichita Cessna Gun Show* (January 12-13)
19. Las Vegas Shot Show (January 15-18)
20. Ft. Pierce Gun Show (January 19-20)
21. Gonzales Gun Show (January 19-20)
22. Hendersonville Gun Show* (January 19-20)
23. Jackson Gun & Knife Show* (January 19-20)
24. Jacksonville Florida Gun Show (January 19-20)
25. Jefferson Gun Show (January 19-20)
26. Marietta Jim Miller Park Gun Show* (January 19-20)
27. Miami Florida Gun Show (January 19-20)
28. Paducah Gun Show* (January 19-20)
29. Phoenix Gun Show (January 19-20)
30. Springfield Gun Show* (January 19-20)
31. Topeka Gun Show* (January 19-20)
32. Venice Gun and Knife Show (January 19-20)
33. Des Moines Gun Show (January 25-27)
34. Canandaigua Gun Show (January 26-27)
35. Carlsbad Gun & Blade Show (January 26-27)
36. Costa Mesa Gun Show (January 26-27)
37. Fort Myers Gun, Knife, Civil War & Militaria Show (January 26-27)
38. Goodman Dayton Gun & Knife Show (January 26-27)
39. Gun Show in the Smokies* (January 26-27)
40. Kingman Gun, Knife, Coin & Collectibles Show & Sale (January 26-27)
41. Lawrenceville Gun Show* (January 26-27)
42. Macon Gun Show (January 26-27)
43. New Orleans Area Gun & Knife Show (January 26-27)
44. Oklahoma City Gun and Knife Show* (January 26-27)
45. Palmetto Gun Show (January 26-27)
46. Pensacola Florida Gun Show (January 26-27)
47. Sedalia Gun Show* (January 26-27)
48. Tulsa Gun Show* (January 26-27)
49. Watkins Glen Gun & Knife Show (January 26-27)
50. Wichita Coliseum Gun Show* (January 26-27)
51. Wichita Falls Gun & Knife Show (January 26-27)

*- Events sponsored by R.K. Shows Inc confirmed to ThinkProgress by phone that loaded weapons, even for those with concealed carry permits, are prohibited.

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Former NRA President: Banning Assault Weapons Is Like Banning People of Color

The National Rifle Association has repeatedly thumbed its nose at calls for stronger gun safety measures after the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. Current NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre shocked many by attacking these efforts and calling instead for armed guards in every school. Still, on Wednesday, past NRA President Marion Hammer took the lobbying organization’s pro-gun radicalism to new heights.

On NRA’s news show, Hammer warned that gun owners are “in for a massive fight like we’ve probably never seen before,” in which the government will take guns away “in order to control the masses.”

When asked about proposals to ban certain kinds of assault weapons, Hammer also charged that guns are suffering discrimination similar to racism against people of color:

HOST: And they even admit it’s about banning the ugliest guns. They admit it.

HAMMER: Banning people and things because of the way they look went out a long time ago, but here they are again. The color of a gun, the way it looks. It’s just bad politics.

Watch it:

Despite a string of mass shootings and casualties in recent years, the NRA’s clout has effectively stifled conversation about America’s gun violence problem. But with the public’s renewed horror at the deaths of 28 people in Newtown, most of them children, the gun lobby’s grip may be slipping. Democrats introduced a slew of gun safety bills on the first day of the new Congress that would ban high capacity magazines, certain kinds of assault weapons, and close the gun show loophole that allows people to buy guns without a background check.

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Republican Congressman Claims Hammers Could Be Outlawed Under Assault Weapons Ban

Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-TX)

A Republican congressman lambasted the push for gun control in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre, stating on Friday that if lawmakers wanted to ban assault weapons, they would have to outlaw “hammers” and “machetes” as well.

Appearing on the Dennis Miller Show, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) told guest host Larry O’Connor that he “refuse[s] to play the game of ‘assault weapon.’ That’s any weapon,” said the Texas congressman. “It’s a hammer. It’s the machetes.”

O’CONNOR: I want to ask you a question about one of your colleagues, Rep. Peter King in New York. He’s a very passionate guy, a great defender, he’s a great patriot. But he’s on board with this assault weapons ban. He was actually on MSNBC yesterday, openly saying, “I don’t understand why anybody would need an assault weapon.” I personally get nervous whenever a politician is asking me as a citizen why I need my right, but can you answer that question for your colleague? He might need some help here. Why would anyone need an assault weapon as they’re defining it?

GOHMERT: I refuse to play the game of “assault weapon.” That’s any weapon. It’s a hammer. It’s the machetes. In Rwanda that killed 800,000 people, an article that came out this week, the massive number that are killed with hammers.

Listen to it:

According to the FBI, in 2010, there were 8,775 people who were murdered with guns, compared to 540 people who were killed with blunt objects, a small minority of which were people armed with hammers. The exponentially-higher number of people killed by guns also includes many innocent people killed by indiscriminate gunfire, such as drive-by shootings. After all, there are no “drive-by hammerings.”

Still, hammers are not the only “weapon” that conservatives are equating with firearms in an attempt to undermine any gun control legislation. A state representative in New Hampshire, warned of another deadly weapon: credit cards. “Anything can be used as a deadly weapon, said Rep. Dan Dumaine (R). “A credit card can be used to cut somebody’s throat.”

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Sen. Graham vows to oppose new federal assault weapons ban

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) pledged Sunday to oppose legislation to reinstate the federal assault weapons ban.

"I think the assault weapons ban didn't work then. It's not going to work now, and I will oppose it," Graham said on "Fox News Sunday."

Graham's opposition comes as a number of legislators prepare to push new measures to reduce gun violence in response to a shooting massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. that claimed the lives of 27, including 20 children. 

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) plans to introduce a new federal assault weapons ban in the next Congress. And on Sunday, President Obama said he wanted to sign into law new gun-control measures in 2013. 

Graham said the last assault weapons ban, which lasted for ten years, was ineffective.

"Well, we had the assault weapons ban from 1994 to 2004 and the conclusion was, it did not change crime by banning assault weapons in an appreciable way, and last year with the lowest murder rate in the history of the United States, people buying more guns, murder rates have gone down -- you are talking about preventing mass murder by mentally unstable persons," Graham said. "You can't take every sharp object out of the reach of people like this."

Graham suggested he supported a proposal by the National Rifle Association (NRA) to post armed guards in schools to prevent shooting massacres similar to Sandy Hook. 

"I own an AR-15 and I have done nothing wrong by owning the gun. If you had armed security, with better rules of engagement, that, to me, is a better way to deal with the situation," Graham said. "And the best way is to identify these people before they act and do something about it."

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