Vice President Joe Biden has called tougher gun control laws on Thursday at a conference on gun violence just miles from Newtown, Connecticut, the town still reeling from the horrific shooting massacre at an elementary school there in December.
'There is a moral price for inaction,' Biden said during an impassioned speech. 'We can't remain silent… We have to speak for those twenty beautiful children.'
According to NBC the vice president told the conference that 1,900 Americans have died from gun violence since a 20-year-old with a set of high powered rifles massacred twenty first-grade children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14.
Biden said he anticipated that a lot of loud voices would be raised in the debate on gun control, but he promised the loudest voices will be for the people who lost their voice. 'We have an obligation to act,' he added.
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Discussions at the forum, which some parents of the children who had been shot dead attended, focused on expanding criminal background checks, including requiring them for ammunition sales and access to high-capacity magazines. Many attendees believed that assault weapons, or as one speaker at the conference described them, war weapons — ought to be taken off the streets.
Also under discussion at the conference were recommended changes in mental health services and initiatives.
The devastated parents of little Grace McDonnell, a 7-year-old killed in the Sandy Hook shooting, reportedly attended and received a standing ovation.
'We ask that our representatives remember 26 beautiful lives we lost and pass meaningful laws. I owe it to my daughter Grace,' Lynn McDonnell told audience members at the forum.
Biden said during his address that universal background checks are a necessity. He also called on the limited sale of high-capacity magazines. 'It makes a difference,' Biden said. The vice president added that he believed a federal gun trafficking law is needed, as well as more police on the streets.
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.Smyrnian | Feb 22, 2013, 09:47 PM EST
JamieLM - Wow! Very well stated. Thank you!
southside77 | Feb 22, 2013, 06:17 PM EST
Joe Biden is the problem with politics all over the world. He is a career politician he came to Washington DC in 1972 and has never left. As a career politician he is concerned with two things: 1) getting elected 2) getting reelected. You, your children, your grandchildren are meaningless to the career politician, you are just a vote or a donation nothing more. It is time to eliminate the career politician from the face of the earth for the betterment of mankind. Power to the people not the politicians.
FastEddy | Feb 22, 2013, 01:53 PM EST
"Joe Biden acts on gun control ..." and did a whole lot of good for sure LOL ... "... Joe Biden! He's the joke of the day ..." = Too true! ... "... Another smoke screen by the politicians who refuse to go after the real problems. ..." ... It seems the readers/commenters here are all on the same page = Biden has no chance of becoming the next one, he will be lucky to get through the next few years without being tarred and feathered ... Now, that would be news!
jamieLM | Feb 22, 2013, 11:22 AM EST
@Nicopernicus, there's a certain percentage of people who would rather have the government support them from cradle to grave, than take any personal responsibility. It's not what I can do for myself, but what others can do for me and it becomes a lifestyle that's perpetuated. I'm involved in many charitable organizations, and as a nurse, I work extensively with the poor and the homeless of all ages, including those with criminal backgrounds. Many people are grateful and appreciative and do the very best they can. Then there are those who have raised "working the system" to an art form. There is no accountability for the poor life choices they consistently choose to make. I've seen it all: the personality disorders, the mentally disturbed/depressed, the narcissists, people who are just lazy and unambitious and think others OWE them a living, alcoholics/drug addicts, people with violent and severe anger-management problems, etc. Some of them get their hands on guns and knives and commit all kinds of crimes. People who don't value their own lives, do not value anyone else's life. People with no self-esteem, no empathy for others, no purposeful goals to meet, no responsibility and accountability; that's why we have violent crime. It takes more than throwing money around and enacting laws to solve the complex problem of gun violence.
pounder | Feb 22, 2013, 11:04 AM EST
Ah, gun control...the new abortion.Another smoke screen by the politicians who refuse to go after the real problems.Great reply Nicopernicus.
Nicopernicus | Feb 22, 2013, 09:32 AM EST
Here's the Truth: With all the entitlements, special education considerations, federally mandated minority hiring policy's, social welfare construction and proverbial handouts...Its amazing that gun violence, gang induced and drug riddled corruption still rule the urban environment. Why is that?...do ya think? Seems the country has bent over backwards to get people something they rarely have to earn...and the killing just gets worse...Nobody in this country will speak the truth lest you be labeled...a hate monger...racist...homophobic womanizer and worse yet and god forbid..."A Republican"