Big push in new Congress for gun control

“These devices (high-capacity ammunition magazines) are used to kill as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time possible, and we owe it to innocent Americans everywhere to keep them out of the hands of dangerous people,”

— Rep. Carolyn McCarthy of New York

©2013 Jackie Kucinich, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Supporters of tighter federal gun restrictions moved quickly Thursday, the first day of the new Congress, introducing bills in the wake of last month’s deadly mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., that will set up a long and contentious fight over the shape of the nation’s gun laws.

Democratic Reps. Carolyn McCarthy of New York and Diana DeGette of Colorado refiled the bill they had promoted in earlier Congresses and said they hoped the environment for gun laws would improve in the wake of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that killed 20 students and six adults Dec. 14. The bill would ban high-capacity ammunition magazines.

Despite a series of highly visible mass shootings in malls, on college campuses, at a movie theater and at workplaces, Congress has not passed any significant gun-related regulations since 2007. Since Newtown, several pro-gun legislators, such as Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., have called for greater restrictions.

Read the entire story at usatoday.com

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