Photo by Benjie Sanders/Arizona Daily Star
TUCSON VICTIMS, GROUPS GATHER AT HIS TUCSON OFFICE
by Veronica M. Cruz, Arizona Daily Star
Survivors of the Jan. 8, 2011, shooting and members of anti-gun violence organizations gathered Tuesday in front of Sen. Jeff Flake’s Tucson office, a short distance from the grocery store where the shooting happened, to encourage the freshman senator to support proposed mandatory background checks for all gun sales.
Flake is part of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, which will consider background-check legislation at a meeting Thursday. The Protecting Responsible Gun Sellers Act of 2013 calls for listing people who should not be allowed to buy a gun in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System and would require that a background check be conducted for every gun sale.
Supporters of the legislation at the news conference Tuesday held photos of victims of the Jan. 8 and Sandy Hook shootings and signs with messages such as “we demand a vote on universal background checks” in front of Flake’s office, 6840 N. Oracle Road.
Jan. 8 survivors Bill Badger and Pam Simon spoke at the event, from a podium with a bright pink posterboard taped to the front with black letters that spelled out a quote from former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, “We must act now!”
Read the entire story at azstar.net