Sen. Mark Warner seeks gun control action in wake of mass shooting

washingtonpost.com ^ | December 17, 2012 | Laura Vozzella

[Tailgunner Joe]

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) has an A rating from the National Rifle Association — and a new perspective on gun control since Friday’s mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school.

“I‘ve been a strong supporter of Second Amendment rights,” Warner said Monday outside the Virginia Capitol, where he was attending an unrelated meeting. “I’ve got an A rating from the NRA. But the status quo isn’t acceptable. I’ve got three daughters. They asked me on Friday evening, ‘Dad, what are you gonna do about this?’ There’s got to be a way to put reasonable restrictions, particularly as we look at assault weapons, as we look at these fast clips of ammunition.”

Warner said his resolve to pursue a solution solidified over the weekend while attending a Washington Wizards game. Many people approached him to talk about the tragedy, in which a gunman with a military-style rifle killed 20 first-graders and seven adults.

“I must have had a half-dozen people come up — Colin Powell actually,” Warner said. “People were just coming up and saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got to [do something].’”

Warner declined to elaborate on what Powell, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former secretary of state, had said.

Warner said he hoped that the massacre would serve as a “game changer” on guns, as he put it in a tweet.

“I hope and pray that this won’t just be a flashpoint and then recede into the quagmire of legislative non-function in Washington,” he said. “But I think you’re gonna see — at least I hope — there are an awful lot of folks who, like myself, who’ve got an A rating from the NRA that are willing to say, ‘Enough.’

[jonrick46]

Excuse my typo errors. I did not see my errors before posting.

[Gene Eric]

>> “Dad, what are you gonna do about this?”

Dear children, the “grownups” you’re looking up to will continue to ignore the mental illness central to this insane violence. And they will make you vulnerable by steeling your Constitutional right to protect yourself.

[BookmanTheJanitor]

good grief...could Warner hide behind any more people in this article? his daughters, other people, other politicians...couldn’t summon the courage just to speak for himself.

[Stormdog]

“Why is it that these Liberal Politicians (they used to call themselves that) are always ready to err on the side of less freedom instead of more?”

Because it’s the coward’s position; easy to take and appear courageous while never actually being in danger.

[Doomonyou]

I’ve got three daughters. They asked me on Friday evening, ‘Dad, what are you gonna do about this?'.

"Girls, if I had any balls, I'd demand the elimination of gun free zones."

[RC one]

Was it the NRA's fault that Mark Warner beat Jim Gilmore 65% to 35% too?

In the November election, Warner defeated Gilmore, taking 65 percent of the vote to Gilmore's 34 percent. Warner carried all but four counties in the state—Rockingham, Augusta, Powhatan and Hanover. In many cases, he ran up huge margins in areas of the state that have traditionally voted Republican.[20] This was the most lopsided margin for a contested Senate race in Virginia since Chuck Robb took 72 percent of the vote in 1988.

Considering that Gilmore was pretty much beaten worse than any other Republican in history, would it have made a hell of a lot of sense to throw a boat load of money and endorsements at him? Or would it make more sense to get a Democrat in there with a solid history of supporting the second amendment issues and try to work with him to the extent possible?

You are starting to look like a fifth column member trying to undermine our alliances in order to tear down obstacles that stand in the way of the anti-second amendment Democrats- if not by conscious decision than by sheer ignorance. How do you answer to that charge?

[Tzimisce]

Thanks - I’m glad good little “conservatives” like you are working tirelessly to make sure the radical left gets everything it wants. :)

Thanks for selling my liberty so cheaply.

Your philosophy is what got us Obamacare, tax hikes, economic break down and everything else going on right now.

I really appreciate that - I know the guys at DailyKos will. :)

[piytar]

The solution that would work: outlawing alleged “gun free zones.”

I am canceling my NRA lifetime membership tomorrow because they supported this puke. Going GOA.

[piytar]

“Fast clips”

Will be the new meme. He probably got it from his Marxist masters. Just like calling semi-autos assault weapons and automatics...

[jonrick46]

For our fellow Americans down at the Daily Kos, our government exists to guarantee our freebies. Why have a need for guns, God and a Constitution when government is so good? I echo your comment about how they sold our liberty so cheaply for the freebie instead of freedom.

Now ask, why have a need for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 when the Daily Kos is all you need?" then you will get a fight tooth and nail. However, when you mention words like "liberty," thoughts will bounce around their pea brains about the names of sluts they know on the cam. Yep, video games, web cam girls, government freebies and the Daily Kos. Life is so good. Life is so easy.

[SIDENET]

Precisely WHAT THE HELL don’t these MORONS get about CRIMINALS DON’T OBEY YOUR F**KING LAWS? That’s why they’re called CRIMINALS!! So let’s punish the law-abiding 99%+!! Good grief!!!

He gets all of it.

He just decided to exploit the deaths of all of those people to grandstand and score some easy political points for himself. Like most of these worthless bastard pols, he checked to see which way the wind was blowing, and adjusted his position.

Evil.

[Christie at the beach]

He is a liberal. He has always been a bleeding heart liberal. He pretended to be more conservative to get the momentum that he needed earlier on while coming up in the democratic ranks. He had a adoring media that built him up like he was the second-coming. I have never liked that man when I lived in Virginia. He is another career politician; power first. His true colors are coming out, nothing more.

[RedMonqey]

”...particularly as we look at assault weapons, as we look at these fast clips of ammunition.”

Clips????.....Clips???

Try magazines

[RedMonqey]

”...particularly as we look at assault weapons, as we look at these fast clips of ammunition.”

Clips????.....Clips???

Try magazines

[jsanders2001]

You might be surprised at how effective it is in raising good children...: )

[jsanders2001]

> He just decided to exploit the deaths of all of those people to grandstand and score some easy political points for himself. Like most of these worthless bastard pols, he checked to see which way the wind was blowing, and adjusted his position.

You hit the nail right on the head. That’s exactly how politicians roll...

[outofsalt]

Virginia ping

[Susquehanna Patriot]

Bring on the debate. Since the abolish the 2nd Amendment crowd is using the deaths of children to promote their agenda, every proposal made should be able to answer this simple question: “Explain how your confiscation of weapons proposal would have prevented the Sandy Hook massacre?” Then again, we are dealing with a mob . . . I withdraw the question. . .

[Susquehanna Patriot]

Bring on the debate. Since the abolish the 2nd Amendment crowd is using the deaths of children to promote their agenda, every proposal made should be able to answer this simple question: “Explain how your confiscation of weapons proposal would have prevented the Sandy Hook massacre?” Then again, we are dealing with a mob . . . I withdraw the question. . .

[joshua c]

Here is a legislative proposal:
Let the teachers at each school decide if they want to arm. Couple this with school vouchers so parents can decide if they want their kids going to an armed school or gun free school. If teachers do not want to arm then parents should be allowed to volunteer.

Great platform for 2014!